The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomgives a story reason for the controversial weapon degradation system, with Purah noting that “there isn’t a single weapon we know of that hasn’t decayed as a result”.
Breath of the Wildmay be known as one of the most beloved games of all time but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have its critics and controversial choices.By far the biggest of them all is its implementation of weapon degradation, meaning that all of the weapons that Link uses in the game will wear down and break over time, something that Zelda fans seem completely split on.
Related:The Reason Tears Of The Kingdom Doesn’t Have Button Remapping Makes No Sense
Weapon degradation has been talked to death but it seems thatNintendois pretty steadfast in how it feels about it, as it returns with a vengeance in Tears of the Kingdom. In fact,as pointed out by ResetEra user ryushe, Tears of the Kingdom not only features the return of the mechanic, but it actually doubles down on it by explaining why it’s happening.
If you head over to Purah’s workshop on Lookout Landing, you’ll be able to find a journal that contains notes from Purah about the Upheaval. In the journal, titled “Notes on the Upheaval”, Purah mentions that the miasma caused by the upheaval is making the residents of Hyrule sick and that it’s also affecting their weapons, causing them to break. Purah notes that there’s not a single weapon so far that doesn’t break because of it.
In case it’s not obvious, Purah’s notes here are clearly talking about weapon degradation and giving an in-universe reason for why it’s happening, which is Nintendo effectively doubling down on it and making it clear that it’s an important part of the world and gameplay. However you feel about the system, at least there’s now some explanation to it beyond Hyrule apparently having some awful blacksmiths.
Interestingly, this does raise some questions as to why weapons were breaking in Breath of the Wild seeing as how the miasma was introduced in Tears of the Kingdom as part of the Upheaval. If the miasma only showed up after Ganondorf caused Hyrule Castle to rise into the sky, then there’s not really a fair explanation as to why weapons were breakingbeforeit showed up.
