I feel like the saying "You can polish a turd, but it's still a turd" is applicable here. You can gloss-up and make the best UI element ever for a poor game mechanic. It could convey meaning and...
I feel like the saying "You can polish a turd, but it's still a turd" is applicable here.
You can gloss-up and make the best UI element ever for a poor game mechanic. It could convey meaning and intent perfectly. It could be a genius solution, never before done. It could receive the highest praise.
But at the end of the day, you still have a bad game element. People are still going to hate it. It will still negatively affect people's experience of the game. The UI doesn't fix that.
That one game mechanic was enough for me to give up playing BotW.
It's a very subjective gameplay design decision. I personally enjoyed it because it set the master sword apart from everything else in the game, and it encouraged me to keep changing things up and...
It's a very subjective gameplay design decision. I personally enjoyed it because it set the master sword apart from everything else in the game, and it encouraged me to keep changing things up and freely chuck low-durability weapons at enemies' taxes.
It gives BotW a unique feel compared to other Zelda games. I kinda hate shield durability though. It made sledding on my ancient shields a painful decision until I used a glitch to get unlimited crafting parts from a guardian.
Even the master sword has durability though! It just “recharges”. Shield durability also irked me, but only really because of the shield sledding you mentioned.
Even the master sword has durability though! It just “recharges”.
Shield durability also irked me, but only really because of the shield sledding you mentioned.
I’m not in a place to watch videos right now, but I really don’t think that breakable weapons are bad game design. They complicate the way you play the game, and that is not something that is...
I’m not in a place to watch videos right now, but I really don’t think that breakable weapons are bad game design. They complicate the way you play the game, and that is not something that is definitively good or bad; it’s something that depends on the context of the rest of the game’s design.
It might be something that some people hate, true, but so what? Not everything needs to appeal to everyone, and frankly I dislike games that attempt to do so because they tend to feel incredibly bland. I prefer to play interesting kusoge over games that I will forget every detail over the course of the next month. And when I think back to my favorite games of all time there’s not a single one that I can think of where frustration was not part of the experience. Frictionless gameplay is something to avoid.
I don't like them in general, but what really ruined BotW for me was that it you lose a fight, you respawn with the weapon durability still used up (and/or the gear still destroyed). It means you...
I don't like them in general, but what really ruined BotW for me was that it you lose a fight, you respawn with the weapon durability still used up (and/or the gear still destroyed). It means you can't really retry very difficult fights unless you have the means to go replace your gear between attempts.
So you're disincentivised from repeatedly throwing yourself at fights you're not winning? I can see that being irritating from a "dark souls" perspective, but I can also see why the designers...
So you're disincentivised from repeatedly throwing yourself at fights you're not winning? I can see that being irritating from a "dark souls" perspective, but I can also see why the designers might want to encourage players to move on to other objectives if they're losing fights repeatedly.
I had meant to make that as a response to @Unsorted specifically, who also mentioned BotW. I don’t think that losing the durability on your equipment when you respawn is a failure in design. I...
I had meant to make that as a response to @Unsorted specifically, who also mentioned BotW.
I don’t think that losing the durability on your equipment when you respawn is a failure in design. I think it’s a specific decision. You can win the game with any weapon. You are meant specifically to improvise; it’s supposed to feel like a survival game in a way. Note there is no player stats outside of health, which is less of a stat as it is a buffer for the player to make mistakes in.
Yeah. I think I largely agree with you. I don't like durability mechanics on weapons. But I get why they exist. They're there for immersion, honesty, and mechanics' sake. In a similar vein, I...
Yeah. I think I largely agree with you.
I don't like durability mechanics on weapons. But I get why they exist. They're there for immersion, honesty, and mechanics' sake.
In a similar vein, I respect a limited inventory for weapons. In BOTW I found the root level of slots bullshit. And I found the expansion mechanism somewhat bullshit. But neither made me stop playing. I accepted both as fair and acceptable mechanics.
If I want a different mechanic, the world is free for me to design my game. I happily enjoyed their game and their story.
I feel like the saying "You can polish a turd, but it's still a turd" is applicable here.
You can gloss-up and make the best UI element ever for a poor game mechanic. It could convey meaning and intent perfectly. It could be a genius solution, never before done. It could receive the highest praise.
But at the end of the day, you still have a bad game element. People are still going to hate it. It will still negatively affect people's experience of the game. The UI doesn't fix that.
That one game mechanic was enough for me to give up playing BotW.
It's a very subjective gameplay design decision. I personally enjoyed it because it set the master sword apart from everything else in the game, and it encouraged me to keep changing things up and freely chuck low-durability weapons at enemies' taxes.
It gives BotW a unique feel compared to other Zelda games. I kinda hate shield durability though. It made sledding on my ancient shields a painful decision until I used a glitch to get unlimited crafting parts from a guardian.
Even the master sword has durability though! It just “recharges”.
Shield durability also irked me, but only really because of the shield sledding you mentioned.
I’m not in a place to watch videos right now, but I really don’t think that breakable weapons are bad game design. They complicate the way you play the game, and that is not something that is definitively good or bad; it’s something that depends on the context of the rest of the game’s design.
It might be something that some people hate, true, but so what? Not everything needs to appeal to everyone, and frankly I dislike games that attempt to do so because they tend to feel incredibly bland. I prefer to play interesting kusoge over games that I will forget every detail over the course of the next month. And when I think back to my favorite games of all time there’s not a single one that I can think of where frustration was not part of the experience. Frictionless gameplay is something to avoid.
I don't like them in general, but what really ruined BotW for me was that it you lose a fight, you respawn with the weapon durability still used up (and/or the gear still destroyed). It means you can't really retry very difficult fights unless you have the means to go replace your gear between attempts.
So you're disincentivised from repeatedly throwing yourself at fights you're not winning? I can see that being irritating from a "dark souls" perspective, but I can also see why the designers might want to encourage players to move on to other objectives if they're losing fights repeatedly.
I had meant to make that as a response to @Unsorted specifically, who also mentioned BotW.
I don’t think that losing the durability on your equipment when you respawn is a failure in design. I think it’s a specific decision. You can win the game with any weapon. You are meant specifically to improvise; it’s supposed to feel like a survival game in a way. Note there is no player stats outside of health, which is less of a stat as it is a buffer for the player to make mistakes in.
Yeah. I think I largely agree with you.
I don't like durability mechanics on weapons. But I get why they exist. They're there for immersion, honesty, and mechanics' sake.
In a similar vein, I respect a limited inventory for weapons. In BOTW I found the root level of slots bullshit. And I found the expansion mechanism somewhat bullshit. But neither made me stop playing. I accepted both as fair and acceptable mechanics.
If I want a different mechanic, the world is free for me to design my game. I happily enjoyed their game and their story.