Nintendo’s upcoming game, Tears of the Kingdom, a direct sequel to the massively successful video game franchise The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, is said to have new features that can transform the discussion around one of the game’s most controversial aspects. Reports state that the game will contain a new feature called the Fuse tool, which is poised to address the concerns players had with the weapon durability mechanic in the previous game.
Fans of TLOZ are likely aware that Breath of the Wild made use of a durability mechanic for weapons, which some players found frustrating as it meant needing to replace weapons constantly. This, in turn, could lead players to avoid battles since it was potentially a waste of good weapons. On the other hand, some players saw the mechanic as a challenge, rising to the occasion to overcome the obstacle. The divide has been the subject of debate in the gamer community, with some discussing what they see as a missed opportunity when it came to the game’s implementation of such a mechanic.
It is worth noting that in the upcoming sequel, some players may find that they will no longer have to deal with weapon durability, as weaknesses within the tool will be mostly eliminated. For those who find joy in the mechanism, however, they will still be able to use the Fuse tool to make weapons degrade over time, resulting in the same experience as they did in the previous game.
The website GameSpot wrote that “at the most basic level, previous Zelda games rarely featured this sort of mechanic, and some hardcore fans tend to balk at those sorts of major changes on a conceptual level alone. For me, however, my issues with Breath of the Wild stem more from its implementation of durability than the mechanic itself.” The idea of durability is not necessarily flawed for critics, as most games use durability as a mechanic, but the implementation in TLOZ can be improved.
The new Fuse tool will change that. As reported by GameSpot, the tool “appears to be wildly intuitive” and will give players more options when it comes to figuring out weapons. Players will be able to use the tool to fuse weapons closing to break apart weapons and mix their parts to make weapons.
In a demo showcased by Nintendo, Link combines a weak tree branch with a rock to create a makeshift hammer that deals more damage and lasts longer than the original weapon. This would give players the option to easily create a viable weapon in a variety of situations. This would also fix a scenario that many weapon durability dislikers complained of: having to run away from a fight because they’ve run out of usable weapons. The showcase also shows that Fuse can improve arrows using jellies to apply elemental effects or Keese Eyeballs to create homing arrows.
Though the new game’s success is still uncertain, if Fuse is executed correctly, players will be able to see how the new mechanics can fix the issues that many players had with Breath of the Wild’s weapon durability system. Tears of the Kingdom seems to be a direct follow-up to Breath of the Wild that looks to improve and add onto many of its successful systems. The game’s release date is yet to be announced, but expectations are high for the newest installment in The Legend of Zelda franchise.
