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Is there a game that does weapon durabilty worse than BotW

VertigoOA

Banned
Ive played a fair amount of RPGs and action games over the years. Weapon durabilty is not something that I inherently hate either. Item weight limits, etc... force you to think what the gear to take with you to maximize your play style. And you’re favorite weapons don’t get erased from existence after you piss them away in those throwaway shrine battle encounters. Want to challenge yourself against a Gold Lionel? Hopefully you’re not going in with a bunch of tree branches.

So many disposable weapons with at most 20 mins of usage before having to resort to lesser shit weapons. Further showing how poor design choice it was that they designed so many unique weapons that all have the same basic attack animations that almost seems like a step back from the combat of TWW and TP.

I hope this is addressed with the sequel. I couldn’t give a fuck about playable Zelda or shoehorned escort missions with Zelda as a supporting character. Actually... that sounds horrible too.

Hype for botw2 will seriously be deflated if they keep this complete trash mechanic and if proper dungeons don’t exist again and giving us peanuts with more throwaway shrine puzzles.

No game has done weapon durabilty worse than Botw. None. Fact

It may be the best Zelda since the N64 by taking notes from Skyrim, Assassin’s Creed and MGSV (oh you thought it was innovative!! Lol yea If you ignore everything it ripped off) but hopefully Nintendo is aware of such a dumbass choice.

The Witcher 3 puts BotW into the camel clutch, breaks its back, fucks its ass ... and then make its humble.
 
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Mondai

Member
It was a sucky mechanic in BOTW, but its not the worst part of the game , and no i think BOTW and DS2 have the worst weapon durability systems of the games I've played.
 
God, please don't let brap brap see this thread
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Grinchy

Banned
I wasn't against the idea of durability, but I never quite understood the point of making it so you could just about count the number of swings before your shit broke.

Buy the house and put the cool looking weapons up on the wall because you'll only get to kill like 10 ice bats with a fire sword anyway.
 

Hendrick's

If only my penis was as big as my GamerScore!
I don't think so. I don't know how anyone can think that is a good mechanic. It really just ruins the game. Hopefully they correct for BOTW2.

Also, pay attention Ubisoft.
 
S

SLoWMoTIoN

Unconfirmed Member
No. INB4 BUT MUH EXPLORATION!
 
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Codes 208

Member
I distinctly recall durability (and price to fix for that matter) was also a pain in the ass in TW3. DS2 and oblivion were also pretty poor with durability.

botw’s can be a pain as well but frankly for me this was offset by the fact i continuously had 6+ more of the same (or rough equivalent) weapon at all times.
 
So many disposable weapons with at most 20 mins of usage
That's a bit generous isn't it? More like 20 minutes of walking around not hitting anything. I had so many combat encounters throughout the game where I'd go through multiple weapons in just a couple of minutes. It was fucking awful. That shit doesn't even stop once you get the Master Sword...SMH. What the fuck were they thinking.
 
S

SLoWMoTIoN

Unconfirmed Member
That's a bit generous isn't it? More like 20 minutes of walking around not hitting anything. I had so many combat encounters throughout the game where I'd go through multiple weapons in just a couple of minutes. It was fucking awful. That shit doesn't even stop once you get the Master Sword...SMH. What the fuck were they thinking.
Zelda can do no wrong. Look at the sales. WE ARE LEGION.
 
OP is like this series of backhanded compliments that isn't clever enough to make it work. The absolute peak inanity is the part about BOTW ripping off Skyrim and AC, which is, sadly and ironically, not original enough.

0/10 bait thread, stay salty. Not that I would expect anything more from the poster who once blessed this forum by saying "NBA 2K is a bigger franchise than Mario/Pokemon".
 

oSoLucky

Member
Isn't the point of the tough enemy fights that you stock up and break a bunch of weopons in order to get nice new ones? I'm glad I don't feel attached to a bunch of pixels on a screen.

You're posting on a gaming forum whose tagline is

Gaming Discussion
Video game news, industry analysis, sales figures, deals, impressions, reviews, and discussions of everything in the medium, covering all platforms, genres, and territories.

Yet you're too cool to feel "attached to a bunch of pixels on a screen". It all adds up.

Durability and the fact that about 1/3 of the time while climbing anything(seriously, I'm pretty sure the rate went up at endgame for me to like 3/4) a thunderstorm would start up out of nowhere, were the absolute worst parts of the game for me. I still think it's a good game, and I had a lot of fun for the first 50 hours, but I hit a wall and fell off so hard from it without even finishing the memories or Hyrule castle.
 
You're posting on a gaming forum whose tagline is

Gaming Discussion
Video game news, industry analysis, sales figures, deals, impressions, reviews, and discussions of everything in the medium, covering all platforms, genres, and territories.

Yet you're too cool to feel "attached to a bunch of pixels on a screen". It all adds up.

Durability and the fact that about 1/3 of the time while climbing anything(seriously, I'm pretty sure the rate went up at endgame for me to like 3/4) a thunderstorm would start up out of nowhere, were the absolute worst parts of the game for me. I still think it's a good game, and I had a lot of fun for the first 50 hours, but I hit a wall and fell off so hard from it without even finishing the memories or Hyrule castle.
You had fun for 50hrs and you're bitching?
Most games 1. Aren't fun. 2. Last under 10 hrs.
Stop getting your thong in a twist.
 

LOLCats

Banned
I think its pretty close to the worst for me, in my opinion it ruined the game. but i say the same thing in a different way in each one of these thread.
 
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I wish this thread was created before I bought BOTW recently. Had I read this before, I would have never purchased the game. Haven't played it yet, but I'm not looking forward to it. I despise the broken mechanics described here. Why would anyone go through the trouble of procuring the best weapons in the game, at any part in time, only to not be able to use it more than a few swings?
 

oSoLucky

Member
You had fun for 50hrs and you're bitching?
Most games 1. Aren't fun. 2. Last under 10 hrs.
Stop getting your thong in a twist.

So your perspective is that since I had fun for the first 50 hours(I never reached 60), and am saying that I still think it's a good game, means that I can't point out any of its flaws? Also, in this day of shoehorned RPG systems and side quests, most games last way too long, not under 10 hours.
 
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420bits

Member
The BOTW-durability is the WORST fucking idea ever, what makes it even worse is that Nintendo is known for holding hands in their games but here they just went with "A weapon-swapping simulator would be fun no? lets use this mechanic in one of our biggest titles, players will love it!".

They should just add a patch where you can disable it and everyone would be happy.
 

BlueAlpaca

Member
BOTW could have been so much better, I hated so much of it but still put in over 70 hours and these days have been thinking of playing it again. The sequel could be truly something if they:

1 - add in big dungeons. lots of them .

2 - improve the battle system and add in more powerful enemies with more variety.

3 - new types of dungeons - free roaming ones with no maps and compass, open air ones, battle intensive ones, puzzle intensive ones, etc...

4 - dense areas in teh map, big cities, villages, good sidequests.

5 - keep large parts of the game 'barren,' I loved running and exploring in solitude. Keep enemies away from those areas too, no need to fight easy and annoying enemies all the time - and that danger music must go or at least be toned down as all it does it disturb the mood while exploring the beautiful game.

6 - hire some good professional writers for an epic fucking story.

7 - and yes, do away with that weapon durability nonsense.
 
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I enjoyed BOTW, but I too didn't enjoy the weapon durability (or lack thereof). Some of my favourite parts of RPGs are finding the next new weapon and owning enemies with it, and I found it difficult to do with any satisfaction in BOTW as I felt as though I was either saving weapons for when I would need them, i.e. never, or using them and counting down the hits until they shattered.
 
I feel people absolutely missed the point of the gameplay loop regarding weapons in BOTW...

You are *supposed* to keep switching on the fly. It’s similar to Matrix / Max Payne in that sense - when Max’s / Neo’s gun runs out of ammo, they just chuck it and pick up a new one...

Hell, there’s even a damage bonus for throwing your weapon and hitting an enemy before it breaks completely.

All that was designed to keep you moving, switching between bow and arrow / special abilities and keep the battle flowing.

It’s almost like a more shallow version of a Platinum game in that respect and understandable it’s not as fleshed out as one as it’s an RPG and not a standard hack and slash.

There are also environmental ways to approach combat, fire spreads, boulders to roll etc...

There is even rudimentary stealth...

It’s fine if you don’t understand how to play it, but knocking the combat because of your own lack of imagination is poor form. Compared to Witcher the combat is leagues ahead.
 
I feel people absolutely missed the point of the gameplay loop regarding weapons in BOTW...

You are *supposed* to keep switching on the fly. It’s similar to Matrix / Max Payne in that sense - when Max’s / Neo’s gun runs out of ammo, they just chuck it and pick up a new one...

Hell, there’s even a damage bonus for throwing your weapon and hitting an enemy before it breaks completely.

All that was designed to keep you moving, switching between bow and arrow / special abilities and keep the battle flowing.

It’s almost like a more shallow version of a Platinum game in that respect and understandable it’s not as fleshed out as one as it’s an RPG and not a standard hack and slash.

There are also environmental ways to approach combat, fire spreads, boulders to roll etc...

There is even rudimentary stealth...

It’s fine if you don’t understand how to play it, but knocking the combat because of your own lack of imagination is poor form. Compared to Witcher the combat is leagues ahead.

Or people got the point of the gameplay loop and didn't enjoy it.
 

GymWolf

Gold Member
Not in the near past.

They killed both sense of progression and the reason to even fight with enemies, in a fucking action rpg...
 
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Area61

Member
I think Nintendo/creators wanted these mechanics based on the sheer fact how this lack of durability will test players and keep the gameplay runtime a bit longer. Obviously this is a poor and tedious part of the game honestly.
 

Gavin Stevens

Formerly 'o'dium'
Weapon durability is fine as long as it A) lasts a decent amount of time and B) the weapons can be repaired after they break, either by carried tools or a smith.

Weapons that I spend 17 hours trying to obtain that then break FOREVER are about as stupid as... as... well, something stupid...
 

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
The question you're asking is "is there a game where the weapons break faster". Probably not.

I just never understood the beef. The entire point is that you break one, move on. Break one, move on. It can be annoying at the very start of the game when you have no weapon slots, but give it a few hours and Korok seeds and it becomes a complete non-issue. By the time you've spent a good chunk of time in the game you're tripping over weapons and rarely have room to pick up more.

I feel like people just wanted to scratch their completionist itches and collect a bunch of cool weapons like so many other games, but that's really not the point in BotW. Still, a lot of people were annoyed at it, maybe I'm just giving it more leeway than it deserves. It was never an issue for me.
 
If there's a durability mechanic...or any mechanic in a game, I think it should be a bit 'accelerated' to make it worthwhile in the first place.

I remember liking Ultima Underworld for it's weapon breaking system, but in the end the ease of repairing weapons made the whole thing just a unnecessary chore and the game might have been better without it. It made no other difference, than having to stop the game for fixing the weapons every now and then.

I understand, that some people hate the IDEA of losing their hard earned items, but in BOTWs case the whole system is calibrated so, that you don't have to use your weapons too sparingly and worry too much, but while making the weaponry a resource, it makes you think how to handle different encounters.

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly the weapon system made me appreciate my arsenal more, than in games, where the weapons are taken for granted. I had instinctly thought a rough idea of value for each weapon and used them according how I estimated the availability of weapons in places, where I was roaming.

The system increased situations where you need to improvise as well as weigh risks of encounter ahead, and plan your actions. Coming up with economic ways to deal different encounters, and gathering all the resources after fight made the whole game one of my most rewarding experiences.
 
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If there's a durability mechanic...or any mechanic in a game, I think it should be a bit 'accelerated' to make it worthwhile in the first place.

I remember liking Ultima Underworld for it's weapon breaking system, but in the end the ease of repairing weapons made the whole thing just a unnecessary chore and the game might have been better without it. It made no other difference, than having to stop the game for fixing the weapons every now and then.

I understand, that some people hate the IDEA of losing their hard earned items, but in BOTWs case the whole system is calibrated so, that you don't have to use your weapons too sparingly and worry too much, but while making the weaponry a resource, it makes you think how to handle different encounters.

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly the weapon system made me appreciate my arsenal more, than in games, where the weapons are taken for granted. I had instinctly thought a rough idea of value for each weapon and used them according how I estimated the availability of weapons in places, where I was roaming.

The system increased situations where you need to improvise as well as weigh risks of encounter ahead, and plan your actions. Coming up with economic ways to deal different encounters, and gathering all the resources after fight made the whole game one of my most rewarding experiences.
Very good points. I think it rubbed me up the wrong way because I tend to hoard consumables in games and I had this feeling that I needed to save the weapons I had for the appropriate battle, but then didn’t end up using them anyway. So I guess it’s something I probably need to ‘get over’ to get my full enjoyment from the game. Breaking old habits is just so hard sometimes though!
 
I think BotW is one of the few games that does weapon durability right.

Games like Diablo 3 and Dark Souls (and most others that use the mechanic) don't make it threatening enough, so it is an annoyance. I'm sure from a design perspective it is meant to force the player to return home briefly after long sessions, but mechanically it serves no other purpose. Players don't switch between multiple weapons due to durability.

Except in BotW.

Because the durability is so harsh, players must pick up more weapons as they go, use unfamiliar/non-optimal choices, and make do with the tools at their disposal. Forcing the player to embrace resourcefulness properly aligns them with the game's other mechanics.
 
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