Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom's Fuse Ability May Fix Major BotW Problem
A new gameplay demonstration for "Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom" revealed that players will now be able to fuse weapons and other items in order to create stronger and more durable tools. This new mechanic will certainly allow players a degree of versatility in their weapon crafting, but it may also fix one of the biggest complaints that they had about "Breath of the Wild:" weapon durability.
"Breath of the Wild" may be considered one of the best open world games ever made, but it had one divisive mechanic where every weapon in the game (except for the Master Sword) would start to degrade after use and would eventually break. This left players constantly scrambling for new weapons, and it made it so that even if they found a sword they really liked, it was only a matter of time before it broke. Some people actually enjoyed this mechanic, as it forced them to experiment with new weapons more frequently than they would have otherwise, but just as many players hated it and were very vocal about not wanting Nintendo to bring it back in "Tears of the Kingdom."
Well, it turns out "Tears of the Kingdom" does have weapon durability, but Nintendo may have found a workaround using the Fuse mechanic that will make both sides happy.
Nearly broken weapons can be repaired via fusion
Series producer Eiji Aonuma walked players through how the fuse ability works in the video, showcasing how players can use it to build new weapons out of ones that were badly damaged.
He started with an early game weapon, a tree branch, that was about to break. Instead of waiting for it to fall apart and then replacing it like a player would have to do in "Breath of the Wild," he took it to a nearby boulder and used the Fuse ability to create a primitive maul out of the two components. Not only did this make a new weapon that hits harder, but it was much more durable and came fully repaired. Aonuma then showed how a stick could be fused with a pitchfork in order to create a longer spear-like weapon that players could use to keep their distance from enemies. This mechaic adds a layer of creativity and versatility to weapon crafting that wasn't present in the first game.
He also went on to showcase how players could attach items to arrows or shields for various effects and even create vehicles, all using the Fuse ability. This "Banjo-Kajooie: Nuts & Bolts"-like vehicle building is certainly exciting, but the weapon crafting seems like the star of the show.
Fans are loving the Fusion mechanic
A lot of the fans in the comments section below the gameplay demonstration seemed ecstatic about everything Aonuma had to show, but most of them appeared to be primarily fixated on the numerous applications of the Fuse ability – particularly how it deals with weapon durability.
"The way the game has officially fixed the durability system is brilliant," one user commented. "We all know that infamous "Weapon is low on durability" pop up. We knew it was there. Then the [rock] is added to the stick and it lasts longer. This game ROCKS!" Another user said, "New landscapes, new mechanics; and we can enhance less desirable equipment to be more effective!? This is beyond perfect!"
Everything shown in the video appeared to be from the early parts of the game, however, before Link starts getting more serious weapons. Real metal swords, hammers, and spears were special weapons in "Breath of the Wild." They were typically earned by defeating bosses and were significantly more powerful than the ones found strewn about on the ground in the open world. It's uncertain if these items will be fusible in the same way as sticks and rocks, but Aonuma's video seemed to imply that any weapon could be fused with something else in order to upgrade it and prolong its lifespan. If so, this might just be the perfect fix to make both sides of the durability argument happy.