Topic: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

You know, if the weapons didn't break, you could have unique weapons as a reward. Or armour.. You get nearly all of that in the shops anyway.

Tbh the dungeons and bosses are side quests.

Weapon durability was a mistake.

Another noob question regarding Hyrule castle, any idea what works best on Stalnox’s eye once it falls out? I’ve got to that point numerous times but failed to destroy it and got killed in the process.

@KirbyTheVampire There are a lot of funny sidequests that reward you in a more subtle way than in-game achievements. However, I agree: Collecting mushrooms is not one of them. But this would be a sidequest to which you can come back after a lot of hours when you randomly collect enough of these mushrooms.

The durability system in Zelda did more harm than good for the game. It barely contributed anything, and served more as an annoyance. The same can be said to an extent to the stamina system which wasn’t well implemented and served to slow down progress needlessly.

It’s good to experiment but their attempts were half baked.

@DarthNocturnal Wind Waker had wallet upgrades, bomb bag upgrades, quiver upgrades, and a magic upgrade too. None of these were present in BOTW either, they were either infinite from the start, or not present at all. That's why I think they can improve a lot on the ''current'' formula by simply looking at previous 3D Zelda games.

I get that people liked the freedom, but it also meant that any sense of progression was going to be hard to find in the game.

@-Green- I'm actually a fan of the durability system - even if it feels a bit annoying in the early game when weapons are especially fragile - it forces you to use the weapons you find. Wind Waker let you pick up and use different weapons but why would you (except for the one boss that requires it)? "Here's a spear, here's a dagger, here's an axe!", "meh, I've got the master sword - I'm good".

BoTW by contrast is able to build its encounters around the idea that if you go into an area then eventually you'll be using the weapons they've supplied for that area. So if you're approaching Zora's domain you have to get good at using the spears and that's a different game than it would be if you had more swords available.

It's also a proposed solution to the "loot problem" that almost all RPGs face. There has to be a value to fighting and that value is provided by the weapons you can choose to pick up. If your weapons last forever then it's not a problem solved. Playing through Skyrim at the moment I much prefer BoTW's solution to the loot problem than Skyrim's (which is to give you a carry limit).

I'm also definitely a fan of the stamina system - it creates soft limits on the world where you might not be able to climb or glide until later. It's one of the ways in which they gate you off from certain challenges until later in the game.

Without it you'd also create another problem - either a slower pace or a game where you're running constantly.

The best durability system is in the pre-Awakening Fire Emblem games.

Got the Nintendo Newsletter in my email to be informed about the games for the Holidays. It contains a part of BOTW DLC Pack 2 so I am 100% sure the DLC is not delayed to 2018.
I really hope that BOTW will be the Game of the Year tonight and that when I wake up tomorrow that it really is including the announcement of DLC Pack 2!

I wouldn't have been so salty about the durability if the Master Sword wasn't the straw that broke the camel's back for me. But with the DLC imminent, I'm excited to give the game another try and see if I walk away feeling better about it

The concept of weapon durability is fine, but burning through multiple weapons in one fight was a bit unrealistic. I'd rather have less weapon slots but they last at least 3 fights.

But having said that, it does force you to strategize a bit more about how you approach some of the tougher situations, which isn't such a bad thing.

The weapon durability system ties back into the problem I mentioned of Zelda struggling with incentives outside of the main quest. The weapons and ruppees are really the only incentive to go and explore most parts of the map. Without those, all you're incentivised to do is the shrines and main quest.
I really think an open world game struggles without an experience and levelling system. The Witcher 3 feels far better at making all of these different activities meaningful.

Durability is good. I usually have enough weapons and I waste the cheap ones by breaking them onto enemy heads. The balance is pretty good. In the beginning it's survival, in the middle it's balanced and in the end you are overpowered. A great formula for action-adventures in general because you get a real sense of getting stronger.

Btw, there are spots in the game where you can get unlimited of the strongest weapons, but of course you first have to explore a bit to find them.

The limitations here are nothing when weighted against the freedoms. Climbing, unlimited bombs (plus three other "magics"), and flying are new gameplay elements you get almost right from the start. Tons of weapons bows and shields to collect and try, and especially approaching the story, action, and puzzles in many different ways right from the start gets you into the adventure faster than picking up everything little by little in predictable order: shield, sword, bow, bombs, etc. Plus all of this happens for the first time in an advanced physics engine and in an open world that both allow for more freedom then in any Zelda game before.

I'm good with it and I'm fine to continue into that direction, I'd just add more towns, real dungeons, enemies and bosses, weapons, and sidequests.

The old Zelda mechanic was getting a bit stale to be honest. We had like 15-20 Zelda games all working more or less the same.

The people who wish the old formula back are a weird group. Half of them are just afraid that Zelda's forever lost in a different direction, but that won't be the case. The Zelda formula lives on in many other games, like Ittle Dew 2+. And the other half have most likely not beaten all the older Zelda games so I recommend playing through all the classic Zelda games before coming back to the BotW formula. You most likely have a different opinion then and will be glad that BotW does something fresh.

@Dezzy That's the difference between an open-world RPG and BOTW. In an RPG you can fight a random enemy and gain some experience, in Zelda you avoid the fight altogether because the Bokoblin is not worth wasting your weapon on.

Some form of experience system would be nice.

I actually liked fighting the enemies, tho. The AI and interactions in this game are actually pretty cute. Seeing how enemies react was a treat.

As much as I dislike durability systems generally, the game basically has weapons always around (except bosses), so I never cared about the weapons I had.

I heard some cool Zelda theme music while riding one of my horses within the game yesterday. I've never heard that music before but for majority of the game I've been wandering around on foot.

Am I correct in stating that there's some really awesome music that you ONLY hear while riding a horse in this game????

@bezerker99 Yeah, there's music you only hear on horseback during particular times of the day.

@Ralizah Over 600 hours invested into this game and I just noticed that yesterday. Thanks for verifying~

I’d rather have a durability system than having op unbreakable swords the whole game, this makes you feel more realistic and always on the hunt for more weapons, everything always feels fresh and new and you’re constantly evolving through the game

Don’t be mean to game of the year, I repel thee!