Most Obnoxious Item Degradation in Games

[mindsale]

There are few sensations of frustration worse than this in games:

You're about to land a finishing blow or mine a rare resource when through no fault of anyone's but RNG, *snap*, your necessary item breaks.

What are the most obnoxious instances of this in games?

Does item decay ever improve a title?

 

[Zonal Hertz]

Yes it improved BOTW. In my opinion it's implementation was genius and it helped train me to not horde weapons and to play with much more variety. I loved it and before that game I never liked the mechanic.

 

[Castor Archer]

Yes it improved BOTW. In my opinion it's implementation was genius and it helped train me to not horde weapons and to play with much more variety. I loved it and before that game I never liked the mechanic.

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Right there with you. BotW would be a far worse game without it.

Modding it out is like playing a shooter with infinite ammo.

 

[Kalentan]

Yes it improved BOTW. In my opinion it's implementation was genius and it helped train me to not horde weapons and to play with much more variety. I loved it and before that game I never liked the mechanic.

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I stopped playing BOTW due to it. Wasn't fun. Encouraged me to not fight.

 

[mindsale]

Yes it improved BOTW. In my opinion it's implementation was genius and it helped train me to not horde weapons and to play with much more variety. I loved it and before that game I never liked the mechanic.

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I have that response in say, Animal Crossing, where I'll amass some axes and shovels which have identical utility for when they break.

Breath of the Wild taught me *to hoard* though. I would stockpile my good weapons for scenarios that never arose, using poorer ones more often than not and ultimately it cheapened my experience.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

No info or indicator about how much durability the item has and it's a pain in the ass to craft them.

 

[Soap]

Right now animal crossing is annoying me with this as it transparently a way of padding the game.

 

[Wamb0wneD]

Does the OP really expect any answers but BotW?

 

[Magnus]

Breath of the Wild, the thread. Ruined it.

 

[Common Knowledge]

I have that response in say, Animal Crossing, where I'll amass some axes and shovels which have identical utility for when they break.

Breath of the Wild taught me *to hoard* though. I would stockpile my good weapons for scenarios that never arose, using poorer ones more often than not and ultimately it cheapened my experience.

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It's funny cause BotW taught me the exact opposite. It taught me to not get attached to my weapons and just make use of everything I have at my disposal and not worry about it. And I enjoyed it once I got into that mindset.

And it's carried over into other games since. I no longer hold onto to rare items in RPGs, for instance, waiting for that one perfect moment that never comes and then I finish the game without ever using the item.

 

[Hamlet Machine]

I am new to Animal Crossing and although I usually don't mind item degradation in games, in AC, it bores me.
Flimsy axe number 152, why ? The game is already padded enough without it...

 

[cowbanana]

BotW, one of several issues detracting from the game.

 

[Scottoest]

Having seen the first two replies, let me just say Breath of the Wild's item durability is the WORST part of that game (which is otherwise fantastic), and one of the worst durability systems I've ever seen.

There are ways to encourage people to play with more variety, without implementing a system where you need to replace your sword every 10 swings. I'm sure I wasn't the only person who didn't even bother using some of the unique weapons you get during the game, because you simply didn't want to break and lose them. Or your hoarded them for some future situation where you might "need" them, that never arrived.

 

[TeHi & BuSp]

Item degradation in games is the most stupid feature . I hate it

 

[mindsale]

Does the OP really expect any answers but BotW?

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My four hundredth fishing rod in Animal Crossing is what prompted the question but I don't think I've ever enjoyed any impermanent equippable in any game ever unless it has some mechanic whereupon breaking or overheating grants you a bonus or something.

 

[Cosmic Voyager]

Literally the only time I've ever found item degradation not just ok, but even fun, was Fallout 3. Combining guns of the same type to increase the condition made some sense logically (they share the same parts), actually gave you a use for duplicate weapons, and truly made you use your most OP weapons sparingly because who knows when you'll be able to find the parts to repair it.

Otherwise, I fucking hate this mechanic and it needs to die in a ditch.

I remember when I first started Dark Souls and kept dying in the Undead Burg because I hadn't figured out how FromSoft games work yet. It got to the point where my sword broke and barely did any damage, but I couldn't use any other weapons because I didn't have the required attributes. So I had to restart the game and do the tutorial and all off that over again. I was like fuck off with this and didn't come back to the game for a very long time. It's such a useless mechanic in the game, because when you know what you're doing, you don't even get close to the point of your weapons breaking and it's such a non-factor. It really only exists to punish newbies

 

[Mama Robotnik]

Whether you liked it or hated it, there is no more accurate answer than Zelda.

While I got used to the mechanic, there remains something deeply unsatisfying about heavy iron forged swords smashing into pieces like glass after being used for a whole two minutes of combat. Deeply unsatisfying.

 

[nsilvias]

shinobis tate system, the more enemies you kill the stronger your weapon gets. if you get hit it resets and the blade starts to drain your health until you feed it death since the weapons strength slowly drains if you dont feed it

 

[Transistor]

Yes it improved BOTW. In my opinion it's implementation was genius and it helped train me to not horde weapons and to play with much more variety. I loved it and before that game I never liked the mechanic.

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Agree 100%

 

[Alienhated]

Oh, this is going to be another of those BOTW threads. I'm #teamdegradationhate.

 

[harry the spy]

It's shit in botw. One particularly bad implementation is the grand magic in Valkyrie profile. Basically when you cast a spell with a special staff you get a much more powerful (complete with cgi in background) version of the spell. Until the staff breaks on you. There are some items that don't break you can get later though.

 

[Kyrios]

Item degradation sucks big time and it was never fun. It's one thing I would love to see die off in gaming.

 

[BassForever]

I didn't mind it in BotW but I can't stand it in AC:NH. All it does is waste my time as I run back to my house to get another fishing rod or bug net.

 

[adavids]

It was driving me a little crazy in Animal Crossing, until I learned that you can

Spoiler: early game mechanic

customize your tools, I do it daily and it resets the tool so you don't have to gather resources to craft a new one.

 

[Kyrios]

I didn't mind it in BotW but I can't stand it in AC:NH. All it does is waste my time as I run back to my house to get another fishing rod or bug net.

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What "helped" me was putting crafting tables in multiple areas around my island. I hate the fact that I have to put "stations" around but it comes in handy.

 

[11037]

Honestly, it's starting to get really annoying in New Horizons. It was kind of cute at first when I didn't have many materials but now that I've moved past that stage it's annoying having to run from one end of the island to the other when my fishing rod or whatever breaks.

I liked it in BOTW tbh, since you find more then enough weapons from other enemies but I feel like I'm in the minority with that.

 

[Master Chuuster]

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

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Yep

 

[lazygecko]

I think item degradation has the most potential if it is a logic applied consistently within the game world where other characters abide by the same rules with their gear.

The Dark Souls 2 implementation is alright I think. Your items can break and if they do, you gotta pay to repair them. But the durability goes back to 100 every time you rest at a bonfire (or use a consumable repair powder). Different weapons have varying degrees of durability. For instance there's a two-handed hammer with a super powerful aoe attack but degrades quickly on use, making it essentially a form of melee ammo.

 

[signal]

Just started BotW yesterday and I've found it fine so far.

Does item decay ever improve a title?

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Yes, Demon's Souls

 

[NotLiquid]

I enjoyed it in BOTW.

Kind of "eh" about it in New Horizons but you can cheese it.

 

[demosthenes]

Dark Souls 2 it was broken at PC launch I think. It was patched pretty quickly if I'm remembering correctly.

 

[BassForever]

What "helped" me was putting crafting tables in multiple areas around my island. I hate the fact that I have to put "stations" around but it comes in handy.

Click to shrink...

Also that customizing the tools refreshes there uses. I have like 4 benches and keep like 10 of the customizable items in my inventory when I think something is close to breaking.

 

[Xyer]

Please, Link. Take this. Here's my great grandfather's sword. It was forged in the great hellfires of Death Mountain 5,000 years ago from the best blacksmith in Hyrule. It's been used to fight in hundreds of great wars with its invincible power. It's even been used to fight the great ancient skeleton king Mopryr. Please continue writing it's epic tale through history.

*breaks in two hits vs a regular goblin from the starter area*

 

[Deleted member 37739]

Breath of the Wild taught me *to hoard* though. I would stockpile my good weapons for scenarios that never arose, using poorer ones more often than not and ultimately it cheapened my experience.

Click to shrink...

I can relate. BotW made weapons into consumable and my brain did with them exactly what I do with every other consumable: hold onto them for when I really need them - a time that ultimately never arrives (I've got Dark Souls NG+ saves were I could open a supermarket with the amount of consumable's I've horded through successive playthroughs).

 

[Hopewell]

I never understood the benefits of item degradation. I've never said in my life "oh I am so sad, my items don't break when I use them".
It annoyed me in BOTW but at least there's some logic behind it. But in Animal Crossing what's the point? It's just annoying, it doesn't add anything.

 

[astro]

BotW's implementation made the game incredibly unfun for me. It's probably the worst example I can think of.

Imo, it is always a terrible mechnic and has never enhanced an experience for me.

 

[Grahf]

BotW's system infuriating.
Also DS2's weapon durability was somehow tied to the framerate, making PC (60 fps) weapons degrade twice as fast.
That said DS2's weapon also degrade faster than DS1 or 3.

 

[Kyrios]

Also that customizing the tools refreshes there uses. I have like 4 benches and keep like 10 of the customizable items in my inventory when I think something is close to breaking.

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I just wish that you can actually see how many uses you have left instead of it being a freaking guessing game. Or even change the tool's icon to a more worn out version of it to show it's going to break soon.

 

[mindsale]

A related mechanic I dislike, but not really item or spell decay, is Final Fantasy VIII's Draw System. Spells had a finite number you could hold but also conferred stat bonuses based on that number, so using rare spells you could only mine on podunk ass islands or from one-time mobs permanently weakened your stock (and therefore character stats) if / until you could replenish them. I never used Ultima in any playthrough.

 

[Luigi87]

I didn't mind it in BotW.

Don't care for it much in New Horizons.

 

[Kazer]

Animal Crossing and BotW.

But it's almost always terrible.

 

[Mathieran]

I don't think item degradation has ever improved a game that I can think of. In most games it's just a mild annoyance.

 

[Presskohle]

BoTw:
I did just hoard the best weapons and tried to never use them. Like that rare Rocket Launcher ammo, which you keep til the end for *that' one moment, which never comes.

AC:NH
Its just annoying, especially paired with other missing QoL features (can't use my storage, craft 1 item at a time, need to craft the cheap version first, etc.).

 

[Scottoest]

Please, Link. Take this. Here's my great grandfather's sword. It was forged in the great hellfires of Death Mountain 5,000 years ago from the best blacksmith in Hyrule. It's been used to fight in hundreds of great wars with its invincible power. It's even been used to fight the great ancient skeleton king Mopryr. Please continue writing it's epic tale through history.

*breaks in two hits vs a regular goblin from the starter area*

Click to shrink...

The worst part of BOTW's durability system, and I think Jim Sterling mentioned this in his video about it, is that it leads to you actually AVOIDING combat situations, because you don't want to "spend" your weapons by actually... engaging in the gameplay.

This was definitely the case for me. At some point I'd just run by groups of goblins and stuff, because I didn't want to burn through a sword or two fighting them.

Apparently the only sword in Hyrule not made of popsicle sticks and Aylmer's glue, was the Master Sword.

 

[Deleted member 21709]

Animal Crossing does not need to have breakable tools. And Breath of the Wild is ramped up way too much. It's comical.

 

[Deleted member 16876]

Animal Crossing. I can't even craft some equipment cause I don't have the proper tools to get what I need to craft.

Not sure if there is a way to fix it but it made me fall out of the experience.

 

[Opposable]

From what I remember the item breaking in the hard mode of BotW was total garbage. They just buffed up every enemy hp and weapons still broke exactly the same. Everyone I've spoken to who has played that mode significantly says they just avoided all encounters as much as possible.

 

[Ruruja]

Playing through Dark Cloud atm and the weapon durability on that is pretty frustrating. When it gets low an annoying alarm constantly plays until you repair it, and it gets low very often.

 

[Bear]

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

No info or indicator about how much durability the item has and it's a pain in the ass to craft them.

Click to shrink...

Yep, this. It's my biggest gripe about the game right now.

 

[DanteSparda504]

I have never had a moment where item degradation hurt my experience.

Breath of the Wild improved my experience. I am always a roll with the default item person and never give new things a shot unless forced. I never would have tried some of the different non-sword/shield weapons in Breath of the Wild if I wasn't forced, and ended up enjoying my time trying them all.

And by time getting through a few hours, and upgrading my inventory, I had more weapons than I ever knew what to do with since I realized good ones were literally every where. So my experience was never hurt. Plus I always had the Master Sword, which I defaulted to.