Oh good, the debate about Zelda weapon degradation is back in full force for Tears of the Kingdom

By Hope Bellingham
published

Fans are split over whether this is a good thing or not

Zelda
(Image credit: Nintendo)

Just like in Breath of the Wild, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will also feature weapon degradation - which has received a mixed response from fans. 

The majority of Zelda fans appear to also appreciate the controversial mechanic, which we first got a glimpse of during yesterday's Tears of the Kingdom gameplay demonstration. During the 10-minute preview, Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma revealed that Zelda Tears of the Kingdom weapon degradation was back, but that Link's new abilities can make it a less painful experience if you're not fond of the feature. 

As demonstrated in the presentation, basic weapons like a tree branch won't last long when used against enemies like the newly-introduced Constructs. However, if you make use of the new Zelda Tears of the Kingdom fuse ability - which is the coolest of the new abilities - you can upgrade your weapon with things like boulders to make them more durable and less likely to break after just a couple of hits. 

Seeing this mechanic in action yesterday has got Breath of the Wild fans all excited. Twitter user @MarioPrime, which is an appropriate username for a Zelda fan, simply tweeted during the reveal: "WEAPON DEGRADATION IS BACK BABY, LET THE TEARS FLOW." The Verge reporter Ash Parrish, had a similar sentiment, tweeting: "AOUNUMA SAID F*** YOU WEAPON DEGRADATION IS HERE TO STAY."

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GamesBeat's Mike Minotti had a slightly calmer reaction to the reveal, tweeting: "Weapon degradation was always good because it makes you engage with the game's systems (which are more fun than simply swinging the same sword around a million times). This is even more true in TOTK with the new fusing stuff. Looks awesome."

Not everyone is happy to see it make a return though. For each person that's happy to see weapon degradation again, there's an equal amount of people who despise it - which has generated a lot of discourse over the last 24 hours. "Weapon degradation and stamina systems have never been good and I will die on that hill," one Twitter user said, "they have their place. Botw is not one of those places," another fan replied.

Find out what other Nintendo games we've got to look forward to with our upcoming Switch games list. 

Hope Bellingham
Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.