Unpopular opinion (on the internet): BotW and TotK's weapon durability feature is one of these games greatest mechanics

[curl-6]

Hiku said:

Spindel said:

It's the limited ammo version of melee weapons

Not at all.
Running out of ammo doesn't permanently break your gun, does it?
The weapon may be temporarily unsuable, until you refill the ammo.

I like limited ammo in games like Resident Evil.
I don't want my Magnum to permanently break just because I reached 0 ammo with it though.

You can promote usage of a variety of weapons and strategies without permanently breaking them.

For example;
- Cause a temporary stat debuff on a weapon that you've used for a certain amount of consecutive attacks, which wears off once you have used another weapon for a certain amount of attacks.
- After using a weapon for a certain amount of attacks, buff (temporarily) another weapon in your inventory.
- Have the weapon be unsuable at 0 durability, but allow it to be repaird at some NPC later.
Etc, etc.

The problem with weapons permanently breaking for me and why I hate it, is because when I find some cool weapons, I don't want to waste them on some weak enemy, so I end up saving them for another time. Which ends up being never.
I have the exact same issue in every game with this kind of permanent weapon breakage system (like certain Fire Emblem games), and Megalixirs in Final Fantasy games. Gotta save them for a reallly tough boss. And then I see the end credits without ever using one.

That's just my personal preference, but I'm definitely not the only one.
The other day Moist Critical said the exact same thing about the weapons in BOTW/TOTK.

He ends up never using them.

The weapons aren't the guns. They're the bullets. Getting attached to a specific sword is like getting attached to a specific bullet in Resident Evil. You use them, you get new ones. They're there to be used, not hoarded.

The problem here is not the game design, it's that people are bringing the wrong playstyle and mentality to it.