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Weapon durability, yay or nay?
- Thread starter ornery
- Start date
killatopak
Gold Member
NAYYYYY
franklyshankly
Member
Definitely a no for me.
PartTimeWarrior
Banned
Right into the garbage with backpack weight systems (and Resident Evil style backpacks can join them, too)
Supermanisdead
Member
I like it if the weapons permanently break, but fuck just lowering it's stats for a while until you have to spend and arm and a leg to repair it.
Glass Shark
Banned
It didnt bother me nearly as much as I thought it would in BotW, but I dont really think it added to the experience. I think overall its a nay from me.
mrmickfran
Member
Big fat NAY
So glad Team Ninja completely axed it in Nioh.
So glad Team Ninja completely axed it in Nioh.
frankie_baby
Member
Was fantastic in breath if the wild, got me switching up weapons instead of sticking to one
Anything that arbitrary forces more time in menus/doing micromanagement for no real reason other than... to waste more time. Half-assed loot systems found in recent games, weight limits in Bethesda titles, etc. Ask yourself- would the game be less fun if they removed said system(s)?
Pretty much this
Twig and Berries
Member
It depends on the game. It's fine in BotW for exploration and inventory management. It actively improves the game by giving you another layer of management during battles. Maybe it could have been better balanced with more low level unbreakable weapons aside from bombs but that's an aside.
This for sure. It doesn't make the game more fun, it's tedious busy work. I think only survival horror games benefit from having me think about my inventory.
backflip10019
Member
I like it and hate it in BOTW.
Love that it forces you to mix up how you use weapons, when to save them, etc.
But it also creates a point of stress for me while playing the game.
Love that it forces you to mix up how you use weapons, when to save them, etc.
But it also creates a point of stress for me while playing the game.
Fucking NAY. Hate that shit. Let me play how I want.
"B-b-b-but gaffer, forcing you to switch weapons forces you to experiment and try new weapons!"
Like, neat, ok I guess. I don't really want to experiment or try new weapons. I don't want to fuck with magic or boomerangs or spears or whatever. I want to find the big dumb axes and two handed swords, and play with those until I find the one with the stats and moveset I like most. That's what I like. Beaten Dark Souls like ten times over the years and ever since I discovered the Zweihander at the tail end of my first playthrough, literally every single one after has been a Zweihander Grass Crest build. I found what I like so I feel no need to mess with anything else.
"B-b-b-but gaffer, forcing you to switch weapons forces you to experiment and try new weapons!"
Like, neat, ok I guess. I don't really want to experiment or try new weapons. I don't want to fuck with magic or boomerangs or spears or whatever. I want to find the big dumb axes and two handed swords, and play with those until I find the one with the stats and moveset I like most. That's what I like. Beaten Dark Souls like ten times over the years and ever since I discovered the Zweihander at the tail end of my first playthrough, literally every single one after has been a Zweihander Grass Crest build. I found what I like so I feel no need to mess with anything else.
Depends on the game and how it's implemented. Polarizing the issue is generally unhelpful and only seeks to deter a potentially interesting mechanic being integrated into future games because developers think people don't like it when they potentially might if handled properly, or conversely, add it to too many games if they think people love it; see RPG mechanics.
Gotdatmoney
Member
Depends. I like it in BOTW though. Only issue there is the weapons aren't unique enough to make it feel like a huge loss when one breaks. Need more unique attack types and special properties.
Well, explain
OneEightZero
aka ThreeOneFour
Super no.
LumpOfCole
Member
It has potential if there is a convenient way to repair weapons or prolong weapon durability.
hydrophilic attack
Member
It was good in Dark Souls II
There is no blanket answer. Limitations are essential when it comes to game balance and design framework. Durability is just one example of it in play.
Executed properly, it can turn a rote experience into a tense and engaging one. Other times, it can lead to fruitless irritation.
Executed properly, it can turn a rote experience into a tense and engaging one. Other times, it can lead to fruitless irritation.
chaobreaker
Member
It's fine when implemented well.
I know people harp on BOTW for its weapon durability but I don't mind it at all. Eventually, you're getting so many strong and durable weapons that you earning more than you lose.
I know people harp on BOTW for its weapon durability but I don't mind it at all. Eventually, you're getting so many strong and durable weapons that you earning more than you lose.
It really depends on the genre and the game itself. Weapon durability is not automatically bad, but it has to be implemented well and work well with the other game systems. I like the weapon durability in BOTW and how it works with acquiring weapons constantly in the game. But weapons are not quite durable enough. They break just a tad too quickly so that I actually stop and question it more than I should.
I like it in BOTW, I would like it more if there were power ups that you could use to extend the life of your weapon temporarily, or if there was some kind of hit meter so you know how many times you can use a particular weapon. I get that this would take away from the immersion a wee bit though.
Skittzo0413
Member
Just like most other gameplay systems, it works if the gameplay is actually designed around it. In a game like The Witcher 3, it only seems to be there to add realism, rather than actual depth into a game mechanic.
Same with Morrowind. I'd say Oblivion is a slightly better use of it since you are also able to upgrade your items through the durability system, but it still seems to let weapons degrade only for realism.
Diablo 3 has weapons degrade almost purely as a death punishment mechanic. And in that way it works fine.
BotW's combat is designed 100% around weapons breaking, so it works really well. You would have absolutely no reason to explore or pick up any items if your weapons didn't break or if you could repair them.
So basically it depends on what the intention is with this game mechanic. If it's for realism or immersion, it's typically just a pain in the ass since it breaks up the flow of the game. If the game is actually designed around it as a mechanic it typically works well and makes sense.
Same with Morrowind. I'd say Oblivion is a slightly better use of it since you are also able to upgrade your items through the durability system, but it still seems to let weapons degrade only for realism.
Diablo 3 has weapons degrade almost purely as a death punishment mechanic. And in that way it works fine.
BotW's combat is designed 100% around weapons breaking, so it works really well. You would have absolutely no reason to explore or pick up any items if your weapons didn't break or if you could repair them.
So basically it depends on what the intention is with this game mechanic. If it's for realism or immersion, it's typically just a pain in the ass since it breaks up the flow of the game. If the game is actually designed around it as a mechanic it typically works well and makes sense.
It's terrible. A horrible arbitrary barrier stopping you playing the game how you want to play it. People who advocate it for "making them try out lots of different weapons" can do that anyway - it merely limits people who don't want to "try out" 50 kinds of useless stick they need to clog their inventory with for when their decent weapon(s) break.
However at least in Dark Souls the durability is actually decent and you can also repair your stuff - meanwhile one of the many reasons I burned away about two decades' worth of franchise good will just to get to the credits of Breath of the Wild was that your weapons lasted all of 30 seconds and were gone for good, devaluing every weapon you find and making you shun combat. (There's countless enemy camps I just skipped as I couldn't be bothered to waste durability on them, making an already too big world even more empty and monotonous).
So yeah, fuck that shit generally and especially fuck BotW for having the most abusive implementation of the mechanic I've ever seen.
However at least in Dark Souls the durability is actually decent and you can also repair your stuff - meanwhile one of the many reasons I burned away about two decades' worth of franchise good will just to get to the credits of Breath of the Wild was that your weapons lasted all of 30 seconds and were gone for good, devaluing every weapon you find and making you shun combat. (There's countless enemy camps I just skipped as I couldn't be bothered to waste durability on them, making an already too big world even more empty and monotonous).
So yeah, fuck that shit generally and especially fuck BotW for having the most abusive implementation of the mechanic I've ever seen.
shadow_shogun
Member
Fukk Nayy! That was the only downside to BOTW, and I was so happy when they removed that shyte from Nioh.
Calvinpewpewpew
Neo Member
No, never, under any circumstance outside an MMO, where it is only barely acceptable as a way to control player economies.
humansarehorses
Member
It's resource management no matter how it's dressed up. Which makes sense in a SRPG like Fire Emblem, but it makes no sense in games where action and/or exploration are the selling points.
D
Deleted member 471617
Unconfirmed Member
Depends on the game. For a game such as State of Decay, makes perfect sense since it's a survival based game.
For a game like The Witcher III, your swords won't break but the durability will decrease and the amount of damage that you do decreases as the durability decreases. Repairing the swords, equipment, etc. is easy so it's not a big deal at all.
In a game like Zelda: BOTW, it just doesn't fit as well but the main problem is that the Master Sword is said to also break which if true, defeats the entire purpose of trying to acquire this sword and kind of makes it seem not so mastery. LOL.
So basically, it truly comes down to the individual game and how it's implemented and based on that will determine if it's a yes or no for me.
For a game like The Witcher III, your swords won't break but the durability will decrease and the amount of damage that you do decreases as the durability decreases. Repairing the swords, equipment, etc. is easy so it's not a big deal at all.
In a game like Zelda: BOTW, it just doesn't fit as well but the main problem is that the Master Sword is said to also break which if true, defeats the entire purpose of trying to acquire this sword and kind of makes it seem not so mastery. LOL.
So basically, it truly comes down to the individual game and how it's implemented and based on that will determine if it's a yes or no for me.
I loathe it. I tolerated it in BOTW (which I adored) because the game was so clearly designed from the ground up to work with it - weapons were seen more as disposable tools.
Not gonna lie though, I would have liked BOTW even more if they had gone with more of a "Souls like" system of weapons being hidden around the world, not having durability and each being very different in terms of move sets, playstyle etc.
In stuff like Dead Rising and Souls though? Nah. Horrid mechanic which saps people's fun for no real benefit.
Not gonna lie though, I would have liked BOTW even more if they had gone with more of a "Souls like" system of weapons being hidden around the world, not having durability and each being very different in terms of move sets, playstyle etc.
In stuff like Dead Rising and Souls though? Nah. Horrid mechanic which saps people's fun for no real benefit.