It’s 11 p.m. on Valentine’s Day, so I’m watching Emma play Breath of the Wild. Somehow I didn’t play it when it was, you know, running the gamut as the best game ever made.
The weapon durability mechanic always confused me, though. In that game, weapons break in like 50 hits. From what I understand its easily the most controversial choice the developers made.
Subtext: I was confused because I didn’t take the time to understand what this mechanic does do. I was content just being vicariously annoyed by what it doesn’t do.
It doesn’t let you keep a favorite weapon. I tend to stick with just the one in FromSoft games. In BioShock Infinite I would literally find the exact gun I put down — not the same type of gun, the same gun — so I could carry it through the whole game. We’re very attached to weapons in games.
Weapons in Breath of the Wild were designed to work like consumables. Because it’s not a fighting game, it’s an exploration game. To continue fighting, you have to explore and find new weapons. They become a reward for engaging with the world.
That’s what game design, design in general, is all about: rewarding the behavior you want.
(Photo from Zelda Dungeon, btw.)