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How Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Seems To Fix BOTW’s divisive weapon durability


The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is often considered one of the best games of all time, but certain aspects of it are more controversial than others. While the frequently rainy weather, relatively short dungeons, and surprising difficulty have all been marked as particularly divisive, the most frequently debated aspect of Breath of the Wild is almost certainly its uses weapon durability as a core mechanic. However, no matter where you stand in this heated debate, it looks like Nintendo is making serious changes to how weapon durability works in Tears of the Kingdom, and that could change it. completely change the discussion.

It didn’t take long for the broken sword supporters to declare a resounding victory for their side after the Nintendo event. recently introduced there was a branch that broke after a meager number of hits. Indeed, those hoping to see the durability mechanic completely removed in Tears of the Kingdom have bet on a long shot to start. The Fuse engine that the showcase revealed appears to be Nintendo’s response to many of the issues fans have complained about in Breath of the Wild, and it’s certainly a promising start.

Now playing: The battle expert breaks the tears of the Kingdom game

Now, while it’s probably not necessary to repeat all of the durability debate here, let’s go over some of its basics. All weapons in Breath of the Wild fail sooner or later (except for the Master Sword), although some are sturdier than others. Some players like this mechanic and feel that it adds a lot to the game. For example, GameSpot’s Chris Pereira said that he liked the durability of weapons in BOTW, saying it added depth to the battle. It forces him to carefully weigh his options: For example, choose to use a high-damage weapon now to make encounters easier, or choose to save it for a potentially deadly fight. more difficult later.

On the other side of the debate, there are those who think that constantly breaking weapons is not very pleasant. At the most basic level, previous Zelda games rarely had this kind of mechanics, and some die-hard fans tend to balk at those kinds of big changes at the conceptual level only. However, for me, my problems with Breath of the Wild stem from more of its durability implementation than the mechanics themselves.

When I think about durability in the game, there are a number of assistive mechanics that make the hectic work of juggling weapons and items fun and engaging. I’m talking about dismantling weapons for resources, crafting your favorite weapons over and over again, and investing resources to repair your trusty sword when you get stuck. These are things that allow you to present yourself as a player and minimize some of the sharp edges. Breath of the Wild lacks all of those mechanics – it’s all sticks, no carrots. You can re-craft some legendary weapons by giving resources to specific vendors (which is a nasty hassle in itself), but other than that, all you can do is choose Which sword or spear will break next. It’s a feedback loop that can be viewed as negative at the moment, especially if you lack a viable weapon.

Fans still debate the merits of Breath of the Wild's weapon durability mechanics to this day.
Fans still debate the merits of Breath of the Wild’s weapon durability mechanics to this day.

Like many Breath of the Wild players, I’ve watched through hours of the game, expecting the famous Master Sword to be the only weapon in the game that won’t break. However, when I eventually lifted it off the pedestal, I was rather disappointed to learn that using it heavily enough would cause it to “lose power” on its ten minute cooldown, which causes the sword to be legend is not just a useful backup means. It’s a valid design choice, but it’s not my favorite as a player.

Nintendo’s recent rollout made it clear that Tears of the Kingdom will give players more options when it comes to finding weapons. In the same way that Breath of the Wild’s crafting system encourages fireside experimentation rather than a jumble of menus, TOTK’s Fuse tool seems to be incredibly intuitive. In the demo, Link combines a weak twig with a rock to create a temporary hammer that deals more damage and lasts longer than the original weapon. Considering how trivial this is, this would seem to give players the option to easily craft a weapon that’s workable in a variety of situations. This also seems to fix a situation many people who don’t like weapon durability have complained about: having to run away from a fight because you run out of usable weapons.

The demo also shows that you can use Fuse to improve your arrows, from using jelly to apply elemental effects to using Keese Eyeballs to create directional arrows. A clip later shows Link creating an extremely long spear from a pitchfork and a long branch. While we don’t know how fully this system will be realized in the final game, it seems to be limited only by the players’ creativity and willingness to experiment with the system. Finally, players will have a more proactive way of dealing with the constant threat of broken weapons. For example, I can easily envision spending time searching for extremely effective weapons before tackling a particularly difficult challenge.

Overall, while I think it’s fair to say that Nintendo can’t please both sides in this repetitive Zelda debate, I’m happy to see how Fuse and other new tools will alleviate some problems that I had with its predecessor. Based on pre-release documents, it looks like Tears of the Kingdom is a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild that improves upon and adds to its many great systems. It remains to be seen whether those efforts will ultimately succeed, but right now I’m excited to see how mechanics like Fuse are able to fix the problems so many people have with the system. its weapon durability. However, for me, I still want that eternally sharp Master Sword.

The products discussed here are independently selected by our editors. GameSpot may receive a share of the revenue if you purchase anything featured on our site.

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