Read on Twitter
Weapon durability hot take: it's good actually, and absolutely key to the game experience of BotW. https://twitter.com/hasanthehun/status/1357747388442546178
Mechanically, because finding weapons and replenishing your weapon stash is a driving factor in exploration - as are Korok seeds, whose primary function is to let you carry more gear.
Thematically because Hyrule is a ruined, run down wilderness and that fragility is The Theme.
Thematically because Hyrule is a ruined, run down wilderness and that fragility is The Theme.
And it's absolutely frustrating to find a badass looking magic lightning greatsword and then it shatters after 30 hits, sure, but that's because you instinctively think of them as Special Unbreakable Magic Destiny Items and what they actually are is arrows - ammo.
Need a lightning sword? Mark on your map where you found one last and come back after next Blood Moon. The more you explore (and unlock teleport shrines) the more locations you come to know for powerful weapons and eventually you'll ALWAYS be able to teleport to what you want.
And again, thematically, you're scavenging through the ruins of a fallen kingdom. You're not finding Special Destiny Weapons here (except the Master Sword), you're finding whatever the hell is left after the literal Apocalypse almost happened.
Of course it's fragile.
Of course it's fragile.
Progression as BotW Link isn't picking up new items each of which unlock a new area or mechanic, it's learning to master the wilderness - i.e. know where to find what you need. The sword doesn't make you stronger, long-term - knowing where the sword is and how to get it does.
This is also why the Champion weapons can be reforged - mending what is broken is Link's ultimate task in the game, and each Champion weapons can be restored when it breaks unlike any other piece of gear in the game.
A lot of the frustration I saw with BotW's weapon durability came from people who got frustrated feeling disempowered and discouraged from using weapons out of fear of getting depowered. Same instinct that makes you save 50 mega-elixirs until the very last boss and never use them
"If I break this weapon fighting this tough monster I might not have it to fight the hypothetical even tougher monster that might be around the bend so let's not use it."
I did that too on my first playthrough, had a stash of powerful weapons I never used while carving through everything else with mid-tier gear. It wasn't until I played Master Mode that I was finally FORCED to use weapons and stop hoarding them.
So my critique of BotW would rather be that the base game is easy enough that it allows you to hoard and beat 90% of the game with mid-tier weapons, which fails to force you to use your resources fully.
