How UI helps you hate breakable weapons a *bit* less | Breath of the Wild

[@Afterthoughts]

Something I didn’t get across in the video- as much as I clowned on those diagrams, all of these UX disciplines really are intertwined. For example, much of the wording in a UI is the product of content writers. Especially in a game, every feature is going to touch many, many job roles. Design is not only very subjective, it’s very collaborative :)

[@shoelicker]

Are you gonna do a gideo about tears of the kingdom later on

[@Volair]

It's always good to be aware of how important the elements in your or another field of work/study/discipline/etc are a whole, while at the some time being able to goof and dunk on them.

[@akaimizu1]

Very interesting study. I do agree the UI does help convey the idea of how they want weapons viewed in the game. For me, I'm one who played a number of games with weapon durability. The biggest addition BOTW did, which really made me appreciate the weapon durability system more, is that they actually *give* you something for a weapon about to break. The most significant UI decision for me, was the flashing red weapon indicator. Why? Because I knew, at that time, in my hand I hold a unique weapon in the game. A direct contact throwable bomb. (What other game with weapon durability effectively swapped your damaged weapon for a more powerful single use attack? None that I know. They simply required you to disengage, maybe repair it somewhere else, or just lose it with no other means to use said weapon) Taking note, the bombs Link usually has access to are all delayed bombs. They need to be thrown, then activated, which is more of a planned situation where you are anticipating where things will be in the future, or taking advantage of an unaware enemy. But a direct contact bomb is immediate, there is something you can dish out almost instantaneously upon impact. So I either use the flashing weapon immediately, because the opportunity hit, or I would swap to another weapon to reserve that instant explosive punch, for a more opportune time.

[@kharijordan6426]

Oh so that's what those arrows meant. Edited: I never went "oh cool new better weapon" even when I got something like a flaming sword because knowing my time with it is finite I never got attached. I never appreciated any weapons for how they look or what they do. Not just because I need an arrow to tell me the flaming sword is better than the normal wooded club. Could just be me.

[@atherapists3331]

​@@kharijordan6426 your time with your parents in this world is finite don't be too attached

[@JohnnyBsKillz115]

I love the irony of Several charts explaining UI/UX being near illegible.

[@Afterthoughts]

Right!? Although I will not lie - I couldn't do better. Although I still will not lie - I don't actually know what these charts are demonstrating? Like what's the overlap? Similarity in workflow? Similarity in output? Similarity in skillsets? How often you'll work together? :P

[@daometh]

@@Afterthoughts still kind of funny that a chart explaining design is badly design

[@TheCatgirl]

​@@daometh i think thats what OP was saying

[@bruxinth4660]

@@Afterthoughts Come to think about it, your discussion about UX/UI can apply to the charts attempting to explain the relationship UX/UI has with the other areas of development. In short, the charts express too much knowledge about the UX/UI design process and makes the information sophisticated and complete, but not simple and readily comprehended. Breath of the Wild, through limiting information to its most intuitive parts, helped players to not think too hard about their weapons or grow too attached to any one weapon. To fix the charts, I would attempt to generalize the other areas of development together into singular units rather than express them individually, as showing them individually creates additional visual noise that confuses the picture.

[@BuggieTheBugster]

@@Afterthoughts I assumed it was category overlap “the actions and features that fall into this category also fall into this category, if you’re doing x you’re also gonna be doing a little y just cuz in some areas they are the same” but what I didn’t get were some of the things that were outside the UX circle especially in the first graph like sound design???? How is that not UX?

[@gionavarro3551]

I like how in TOTK if your inventory is full, it'll let you drop a weapon instead closing the chest

[@phoenixofthestix]

I know, i really took that ability for granted coming from bethesda games to botw, so glad to get it back 😅

[@audrey9718]

i was wondering why it was so much less annoying to have a constantly full inventory. I had the vague feeling that i should "keep a slot open" in this game for some reason and now i know why, just a habit from exploring in botw.

[@Mightylcanis]

Now if only they did this for weapons on the GROUND, or in mounts

[@vicenzogames5535]

I had that Idea years back when playing botw and i can't believe i predicted a game fix but It was also to be expected considering How It was a really frequent incovinience in the game

[@lunaJAMv9]

@@Mightylcanis tbf it would take you out of it if you're picking up loot and you accidentally pick up a weapon

[@Diamonddrake]

Its more stressful to me that I have to choose which weapon to drop when I find a new weapon than it is to have one break. I'm relived when they break because I have a slot to pick up something else and I don't have to choose

[@BonnieBoestar]

So real, as annoying as it is to put a high value monster part on a spear and it literally doesn't last an entire fight against a silver moblin, I do basically always have more weapons than I need.

[@Mightylcanis]

@@BonnieBoestar So.. don't put a high value monster part on lower tier spears? Save it for the more durable weapons, like Gnarled Long Sticks or even Royal Halberds, or the champion weapon you can get after the Zora dungeon.

[@gargles5270]

@@Mightylcanisthe gnarled weapons series, my beloved 💖especially with durability up + lol

[@hooman9554]

Same

[@nikkij4873]

I feel like this was spoken from my very soul.

[@sanrusdyne]

Coming back after TOTK came out. They honestly did even better in that game with durability in that it's like "hey BTW you can make your own fucking weapons so have fun!" And that fact alone encourages you to actively break your current weapons early on. Because you get so few weapon slots it's like "man, I literally made this knife myself but I GOTTA throw it out so I can use this spear to make God knows what" it encourages you to break so you have the room to create and I think that's an amazing way of making you LIKE the durability system somehow. I went from "oh no! This weapon is gonna break, eugh" to "aww hell yeah this weapon's gonna break! I'm gonna make a cool spear with the room left!"

[@zellafae]

Also its nice that when you open a chest and have to many weapons to get the new one it lets you go through your weapons and drop one you don’t want to make room for the new one.

[@superhappypenguin5004]

I also agree that they did a much better job with durability in TOTK with the addition of Fuse, but funnily enough it wasn't mostly due to being able to see new things to make, but rather the effect that it (and decay) had on my perspectives on the weapons in the game as a whole. It changed my viewpoint from the one I had in BOTW where every weapon felt like a valuable resource to me, and instead reduced them to not even being actual weapons anymore: they were just merely a handle for me to create my own weapons with. Essentially, they brought the value of them way down so that all of them are significantly more similar in power (like for example, a bokoblin club does a measly 4 damage compared to a royal broadsword's 36 in BOTW, while in TOTK if you fuse a black bokoblin horn to a wooden stick [TOTK's equivalent of a boko club] it will do 21 damage, which isn't much worse when compared to doing the same thing with a royal broadsword, which would have 27 damage.) Despite the perceived decrease in value of individual weapons, the different weapons having unique traits managed to enjoy individual weapons more in addition to the fore-mentioned disposability, by having each handle giving different uses (a good example of this is how soldier claymores went from being just worse knight claymores to being especially helpful for clearing rocks and other obstacles with their reduced charge attack stamina usage while the knight claymores developed a new niche as readily available, but risky sources of immense power, given their damage boost when at 1 heart.)

[@Mightylcanis]

Also most fuses you add to a weapon give them +25 hits for durability, so fusing helps a TON.

[@Mightylcanis]

​@@superhappypenguin5004 The best thing about the unique traits for weapons is they aren't strictly unique, but are shared across that "set" or theme of weapons. Like, a royal guard sword has the same effect as a royal guard claymore or spear. Am I weird for never using charge attacks to clear out rocks, though? I find you lose more durability because you wind up smacking the ore or anything else that drops, and doing that drains more durability.

[@poisonmantis4191]

threw out my best sword because i found out you can fuse a fucking bookcase to your weapons. i have a bookcase spear now.

[@sassageflair257]

Finding a ??? was always so satisfying towards the late game too and was another simple UI decision that made sure the player discovered what was new to them. One of the coolest surprises was finding my first upgraded elemental rod, thinking it was normal, and seeing ??? over it.

[@FizzyCape]

Yup. There’s so many times I would’ve passed on something thinking it was worthless, only to see the ??? And find out it was way better than I expected

[@scottydu81]

Honestly, I had more of a problem with not having enough space to pick up all the weapons than ever being without a weapon at all

[@GunSpyEnthusiast]

same.

[@Mightylcanis]

Unfortunately, with more space, the entire idea of weapons breaking increasingly becomes a moot point entirely.

[@shadowsa2b]

It requires you to make a value judgement

[@scottydu81]

@@shadowsa2b I made a value judgement on your mother

[@EmeralBookwise]

Pretty much, you can barely take two steps in BotW without tripping over more weapons. Weapons are basically the primary resource management in the game, and if they didn't break the game wouldn't really have any meaningful rewards to put in all those chests.

[@georgesully5733]

“Every single power ranger” dislodged something deep in my brain

[@Afterthoughts]

You are welcome 😂

[@randoncourter4923]

and gandalf the grey, and gandalf the white, and monty python and the holy grail's black knight

[@putnamfranklin]

Came to the comments to see if anyone else recognized the ultimate showdown reference. Was not disappointed.

[@NIgHTMaReFortyTwo]

@@randoncourter4923 Actually its 'Bill S preston and Theodore Logan, Spock, The Rock, Doc Ock and Hulk Hogan'

[@Irish_Enderman]

It's a great joke

[@noahtekulve2684]

Honestly, just like you I grew into the idea of liking the durability system. Once I divorced the idea of "saving my good weapons" and adopted a policy of burning through my inventory as fast and as violently as possible, I started enjoying combat a lot more. I stopped thinking "crap, I used 11 hits with my royal claymore, I should hold off and use something else..." and started thinking "YEAH! NOW I'M GONNA THROW IT! EAT THIS YOU MOBLIN P.O.S." It really makes a big difference. Plus, you're always fighting an enemy who has a replacement weapon with strength appropriate to the region you're in. You literally never run out of weapons. You CONSTANTLY are finding more. Try it. Game is more fun.

[@necrobonesgaming2424]

"Plus, you're always fighting an enemy who has a replacement weapon with strength appropriate to the region you're in. You literally never run out of weapons. You CONSTANTLY are finding more." THIS. so much this, this is the biggest thing that makes BotW's durability feel great imo. durability in say, Minecraft feels like a pain in the ass more than anything (hot take?) because I'm never naturally coming across anything worth fucking using (wow, this blacksmith had TWO iron pickaxes!!!). every tool is hand-made and that gets to be real tiring when I mine 500 blocks in a direction and find no diamonds, or go to build something big and chunk through an entire 3-4 diamond picks' worth of revisions. End Cities feel like they were supposed to be the solution to that but they're just not. thank god for Mending two games that I think occupy a really nice middle ground are Fallout 3/NV. enemies won't always have something worth using, but usually special weapons/armors can be repaired with lesser ones, and you can get even more freedom with that through certain perks. it's one of the few cases where durability feels like an issue but not a chore (whereas BotW durability is neither, it just is)

[@corhydrae3238]

I had this sort of epiphany before playing botw during one of my playthroughs of Fire Emblem. I think Sacred Stones in particular. I've played this game and other Fire Emblems A LOT, and I would always buy more and more iron weapons and conserve all the cool weapons you get like killer weapons or brave weapons "until I really need them", and then just never need them. I'd go into the final chapter with a stack of awesome stuff I've never touched. So one time, I quite literally forced myself to use everything I found immediately. The game became so much more fun than it already was, and it felt like some sort of mental constipation in my brain released itself.

[@Byssbod]

Part of the issue likely was anxiety related to the extremely limited number of weapons you could carry at the start. It's pretty painful until you can make two visits to Hestu

[@chrisvisser-fee2631]

The actual breakable weapons are fine, I just 1, wished you had an infinite shield since shield surfing is fun and you run out of those real fast, and 2, wish they added cosmetic items or collectibles to all the chests to make finding them more fun. As it is, it's kind of a "yay, ANOTHER claymore" kinda sitch.

[@Jordan-pp5bo]

Congrats! You are playing the game the intended way! The intention with weapon durability was to make you feel like the Hero of the Wild You are meant to study your surroundings and fight your foes with your surroundings

[@jruler93]

Personally, I tended to use the weaker weapons in my inventory first, so I never minded them getting broken, because that just meant the next thing I brought out would just let me hit harder. Sure, this meant I never really used my 165 attack power Royal Guard's Claymore, but I think this helped mitigate the feeling of loss from my weapons breaking.

[@poodychulak]

Same. Breaking weapons also hits harder, so smashing cheap stuff out of a couple inventory slots ends up being speedy and satisfying

[@jruler93]

@@poodychulak I haven't played in a while, so I forget. Does it do extra damage when you smack an enemy for the last hit, or does it only do extra if you throw it before it breaks?

[@poodychulak]

@@jruler93 Both weapon throwing and weapon breaking are critical hit triggers and the 2x damage multiplier from each stacks

[@lokalnyniecnygnom]

same with me! my weapons with highest power are just hanging safely on weapon racks in hateno house

[@Romanticoutlaw]

I hoard extremely high damage weapons and never use them like I would with potiond in other games, making them... functionally useless out of boss fights that let me use that particuar kind of weapon

[@chanshengsupremacy8889]

I personally love the breaking system in the way it makes you consider alternatives to outright combat, and encourages exploration

[@robinfox4440]

Exactly. It forces you out of your comfort zone, and encourages you to think about your options.

[@Tech_Marauder]

Personally, I felt it discouraged exploration because the weapons didn’t feel valuable so I never felt very rewarded for exploring.

[@dramotarker1352]

I like messing around in games, and the whenever I feel like it, try something new. I don't want a game to force me in to it, because there's no one-size-fits-all, so it's easier to make that decision on an individual level

[@breestringham1063]

Not me dropping boulders and bombs on everything as my go to.

[@Xaaaach]

It’s fun UNTIL you run out of good weapons to use, and have to hunt down sticks to build back up lol

[@TheSorrel]

I also love how they don't have a durability meter. They just give you a heads up shortly before it breaks to not stress you out constantly over it.

[@Afterthoughts]

That's a good point! "Out of sight, out of mind" doesn't always work, but I definitely wasn't thinking much about durability until the moment I got that notification.

[@nekomaru856]

That in turn causes me constant stress over durability because now I never want to use my good weapons on account of not knowing how long they last.

[@twentyeight602]

​@@nekomaru856 same

[@TheSorrel]

@@nekomaru856 You only have good weapons in the late to endgame.

[@uponeric36]

@@nekomaru856 Is the enemy you're fighting difficult? Use the better weapon, otherwise, use a cheaper weapon. Durability shouldn't be what you consider, because if the enemy is tough to fight they'll almost always drop a decent weapon or gate decent weapons. If it breaks on a tough enemy that's a good thing because that hit does extra damage, especially if you throw it.

[@TheDeadmanstrolling]

The arrow indicators are also really useful for when you have the same weapon in hand, so you can easily check if it has an attack modifier or not.

[@dipstick6778]

any equipment with a super shiny sparkle and a distinct noise has a special upgrade (yknow, attack up, durability up, the garbage that is long throw) it's a somewhat minor detail but you'll notice it all the time if you happen to look!

[@dragonfluf]

Those wet rocks looked so damn shiny I assumed they were mounds of luminous stone.

[@nightpups5835]

same, but lower concentration ore of the glowy stuff, or maybe just untapped leaving it's tarnished surface exposed instead of the brighter insides.

[@skchabauzinha7118]

Me too! Plus they're found near Zora's domain which is pretty much built out of luminous stone, so it makes sense they'd build their home with the nearby materials

[@thedra9ongod]

i actually really like the durability system, it forces people to be more creative, take more weapons into battle, choose what to take with them, be careful how they use their weapons, etc. if there was no durability, people would just use the best weapon they’ve found for every single fight, it would be so boring

[@jukebox0310]

truly

[@TenshinhanIsKing]

It literally doesn’t People still use the same top tier weapons they just horde them or use glitches to try to keep them

[@poggestfrog]

@@TenshinhanIsKing you just explained how it works. People won't always be constantly using their best gear since it might break, and HOARDING hoarding is a player problem, not a game problem. You can very easily use good gear on basic camps, but there's weapon scaling so you can get dragonbone gear just as easily. And the glitch users are doing just that, glitching. It shouldn't factor into game balance.

[@Ukiya44]

Ok great, but It can be done without weapons breaking permanently

[@poggestfrog]

@@Ukiya44 please explain how. If they just regenerated, the game would become slow and annoying to play through + everyone would just use 3 weapons total. if you had to fix them, it would be even more so and you'd have to go through a menu and do a bunch of stuff, which would be annoying.

[@draghettis6524]

Of all the UI around weapon durability, the one that helped me the most in familiarising myself with it is the breaking animation. Like, yeah, I lose a weapon. On the other hand, the sound is really satisfying and I get to see the shiny animation of the weapon shattering.

[@claytonandres1194]

And it even makes the final swing that much more satisfying, especially when you can use that extra damage to your advantage.

[@Gazooke]

There's nothing quite like the feeling of throwing a weapon at an enemy with its last hit and seeing that shatter. Having it knock them back and drop their weapon which you immediately pick up and finish them off with it. The weapon durability system was amazing and I don't get why so many people cry about it.

[@jeffboy4231]

@@Gazooke it's just the same people that have lived their whole life with games where they always want to save that health potion for an important fight, and then never use them.

[@minaashido518]

@@jeffboy4231 I do that and I like the durability

[@thinkublu]

​@@minaashido518 ditto

[@spiralhalo]

Personally, the breakable weapon system wasn't too unbearable because of how abundant they made them throughout the game. Also, A+ ultimate showdown reference right there!

[@meee_5155]

The moment I stopped hoarding weapons 50 hours into the game was the moment the game went from a 9/10 to one of my all time favorites

[@tyresr]

Hoarding weapons? Do you mean never using your most powerful weapons, because I do that…

[@gobglob2201]

yeeaahhh i should probably do that

[@DeathnoteBB]

Seriously, you find SO many weapons I have to drop ones I can still use to make room for more. I’m always shocked it upsets people they break. I guess people prefer having 0 weapon choice? Because why would you use a variety of weapons if they never break

[@BH-pk6ng]

@@DeathnoteBB yes people love to fight with 20 sticks instead of a cool ice sword-.-

[@DeathnoteBB]

@@BH-pk6ng You know you can *gasp* find more ice swords right? How are you playing that all you can find are sticks?

[@Matsokune]

Now that Tears of the Kingdom is out, I'd love to see a potential revisit of how the UI has (or mostly hasn't in some spots) changed between the two.

[@dalmationblack]

The little image at 11:47 killed me. I was like thinking to myself "wait im not sure they said that line correctly" then i like fully processed what the image was

[@Afterthoughts]

OK BUT ALSO my artist wrote back to me, "are you sure this line is written correctly?" haha she did a great job xD

[@quadrupleheart]

Man, I am HYPED to see how Tears of the Kingdom follows up Breath of the Wild and all the little changes and improvements they've made!

[@Mightylcanis]

From the future: It's amazing, it makes Breath of the Wild look like The Adventure of Link.

[@prettymucheverything1033]

Personally, I still wish there would have been a small durability bar on the weapons. One you could easily check by tapping the d-pad

[@Afterthoughts]

That’s an interesting idea! I love a decluttered UI and it didn’t bother me too much to realize a weapon was already damaged, but I bet they could fit a tiny durability bar in the weapon selection screen without too much trouble

[@prettymucheverything1033]

@@Afterthoughts oh for sure! But there were many times I felt myself actually counting how many hits I’ve dealt. It would help with the varying durability counts. What I imagine is it would look similar to Minecraft’s durability bar lol. Or maybe a single color indicator inside the stamina circle ranging from green to red but that could be too much. This stuff is too interesting

[@prettymucheverything1033]

And I didn’t think about it till now, but with the Tears of the Kingdom new fuse function and adding durability, tracking that stuff is going to be insanely difficult, but fun to find out. As well as if it makes more sense to fuse a weapon with another, wait till the forward facing weapon is critical, and then swap the weapons so the attacking weapon is now your inner one and the inner perfect one is the attacking one. Oof it’s going to create so much experimentation and I couldn’t be more pumped!

[@Gazooke]

​@@prettymucheverything1033 personally, I wouldn't like having an actual indicator as I agree a decluttered UI makes the whole experience better. What I found myself doing in BOTW was I just had an intuition on how many hits were left on the weapons I had from experience alone. It's one of those things that made me feel like I was getting better at the game. Which I'm also excited how I'm going to have to re-learn everything with fuse in TOTK

[@prettymucheverything1033]

@@Gazooke 100% agree. Mainly it was something I wanted to know on testing weapons against enemies or different materials. Or different surfaces for shield surfing. And the durability would only be displayed via the menu or quick menu

[@joeljohnson9240]

I absolutely love it when people who are knowledgeable take the time to explain the intentionality behind the little choices that we take for granted. Great video thanks!

[@wastedinspace]

the Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny reference was so incredibly done, everything you put out is amazing

[@dadroidulookn4544]

You need to add time-stamp I have no idea what your talking about

[@r0ald_]

@@dadroidulookn4544 after 4:02 when she starts rhyming and ends with every single power ranger

[@EpicPrawn]

Bill S. Preston and Theodore Logan Spock, The Rock, Doc Ock, and Hulk Hogan

[@jek__]

Ultimate something at least

[@MrDrProfJMF]

@@EpicPrawn all came outta nowhere lighting fast

[@lapras2397]

3:50 WE MADE IT OUT OF HYRULE WITH THIS ONE 🔥🔥🔥🥶🥶🥶

[@fatcerberus]

I still don't understand this meme.

[@Ruedas30686]

I think its safe to say the system has been greatly improved in TotK, it feels incredible fusing stuff with lots of different materials and such… Id write more but its late at night and Im a bit sleepy hahaha Im glad I found your channel, Ive loved every single one of your videos, keep up the amazing work!!

[@Romanticoutlaw]

fuse singlehandedly changed my opinion on breakable weapons from negative to positive, it's just so versatile

[@Hexagonaldonut]

The funny thing with TotK is I'm pretty sure weapon durability is lower across the board. You just don't really notice because the Fuse system a) does increase durability depending on the material fused to the weapon, and b) inherently adds an extra layer of disposability to weapons because you're heavily encouraged to fuck around with different materials, and the easiest way to do that is to BREAK SHIT.

[@vulkendov5210]

​@@Hexagonaldonutfuseing a weapon with any material gives it a flat +25 hits. Doesn't matter what you fuse into it.

[@Mightylcanis]

​@@vulkendov5210 Actually, it does matter but not how you'd think, it matters what the BASE weapon is. Gerudo weapons only get +5 for having something fused, and Rusted and Royal Guard weapons only get +10. Tree branches I think only get +5 or +10 as well.

[@sidiwvwhi]

@@Hexagonaldonutdurability isn’t lower but all enemies have higher health now

[@undercoverduck]

I don't know how to put to words how glad I am that this channel exists. Your videos aren't just analyses, they're works of art in their own right. It's the attention to detail, the editing, the thoughts you express and how you express them. It all comes together in a way that I can only describe as... poetic? Idk if that sounds dumb

[@Afterthoughts]

Legit, this is gonna make me cry, haha. These take so long to create and the fact that some people are happy I made them genuinely makes it all so worth it

[@Afterthoughts]

Thank you so much for saying this :) it means the world

[@Cloud7050]

@@Afterthoughts Reminds me a bit of CGP Grey's style of writing for his videos. What he says isn't just narration, there's an art to it. So I always give them my full attention. I think "poetic" is fitting.

[@geneticspaghetti]

4:10 loved the ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny refference :D

[@flan1591]

Maybe I just missed an in-game message, but this is my first time learning that you can use the throw button to cast spells with the rods

[@Afterthoughts]

I bet a lot of people missed that!! Some of this stuff is not super clearly explained... and honestly, even the smartest players can miss messages that are there! There's just so much else competing for players' attention haha

[@cleverman383]

@@Afterthoughts Would you say this is.. a UI issue? 😉

[@elowin1691]

@@cleverman383 Nah, I think the joy of discovering cool stuff like this would be undermined if the game just told you to do it, and it's not really an essential mechanic at all.

[@joefebri3236]

​@@cleverman383 No, the game DID tell you if you throw away your near to break weapon, it deals more damage, so Player would find it sooner or later. Also you might throw it away at some point if, like for example when your weapon slots is full and you are lazy to access the inventory menu.

[@connorhalleck2895]

Same! I literally never tried throwing a wand in 100 hours of playing because it said it would deal more damage if you threw it, but I mostly used the blizzard rod (because the other two are impossible to aim if you use the attack button, which I was using) and I didn't use the blizzard rod for damage i used it to freeze mfs when i was surrounded

[@murphyvuyk9533]

These are the type of videos that make me want to make content myself! Easy to understand yet conveys an educated message, fun but not pointless; you never feel like your time was wasted, engaging and humorous but never to the detriment of the message. Overall amazing work!

[@MacKensBee]

4:02 made me realize we need a "We didn't start the fire" but for UI like "We didn't choose the feature"

[@devnol]

There's one for web frameworks called "we're gonna build a framework", look it up it's hilarious. Also in this particular instance I think the meter and rhyme is actually parodied not from Billy Joel, but Weird Al Yankovic's Hardware Store, also hilarious song. This part is the bridge near the end of the song.

[@nofabe]

The last line is actually a reference to "The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny", but yea, that'd be great

[@devnol]

@@nofabe Oh I thought I'd heard that power ranger one somewhere but not from there.

[@Mightylcanis]

@@devnol It's a bit of Hardware Store and Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny

[@ClearlyPixelated]

I freaking love this series. This brings so much insight into a world that isn't well publicized, UI. Thank you for sharing it with us.

[@liamk3451]

you did a really good job explaining this - at first i was like "yeah its a good design idea but making a whole video about it?" but once you illustrated on screen what it would look like if the UI gave you four different stats or none at all, i immediately became anxious. its pretty impressive they were able to minimize the choice paralysis you might feel simply by letting you know which weapon is better and which is worse.

[@rumpelstiltskin6150]

Your consistent enthusiasm for UI makes me want to listen to you ramble about any seemingly mundane topic for hours, I need that level of passion in my life, this channel is life sustaining.

[@JoeTaber]

Noticing how much those UX design Venn diagrams need a thorough scrubbing by a UI designer was meta-lovely, thank you for that.

[@hypno8504]

I'm so glad you make youtube videos. I couldn't imagine a better video on this subject!

[@ozarkymalarky7539]

Weapon breaking is cool and good in a game with lots of neat weapons. I'm excited to see how it works with the fuse mechanic in Tears of the Kingdom!

[@how_peachy]

I also appreciate that small window of bullet time post weapon break, giving you time to either look around for new weapons, or to equip a new one from your inventory

[@skylar_angel_wave]

I love listening to you talk about UI. Your ability to speak in understandable but still accurate and detailed ways is incredible. The whole "If you can't explain it to someone who doesn't already have that knowledge, you don't understand it as well as you think you do," thing. You nail it. I came away understanding UI better than before, just like on the stamina wheel video. I also just love hearing people talk about things they're passionate about. Fantastic video, can't wait for more stuff from you! And while I'm here, I think that the durability mechanic was a brilliant choice for Breath of the Wild (and Tears of the Kingdom) specifically. In pretty much any other Zelda game, I'd probably hate it. But with the design philosophy of BotW, the weapon system from previous Zeldas would've fundamentally altered the game for the worse. It needed the breakable gear system and the breakable gear system needed it.

[@Big_Dai]

I love design talk .. your topics and execution leave a lot to be desired

[@seraaron]

I love the weapon durability system in botw in theory because I'm someone who loves to constantly change weapons or builds in most other games I play. but my main issue with botw is that most of the weapons have the same moveset, so changing weapons when they break doesn't actually feel like much has changed. Still, a weapon breakage mid combat can force you to think on your feet a bit more, even if only for a moment, which I like

[@Mightylcanis]

Most of the weapons in BotW don't have the same moveset, there's three movesets that are quite evenly distributed. 1-handed weapons, 2-handed bats/hammers/swords, and spears. Nearly every "set" of weapons or theme for weapons has one of each, save for some of the monster-specific themed weapons like lizalfos boomerangs. The only ones that kind of differ from that are the magic rods and boomerangs, because they differ when thrown.

[@bctalicorn809]

I appreciate the Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny reference very much. Good on you for throwing fun things into your videos, very entertaining!

[@lillith7257]

Breakable weapons was perfect for this game. This game is chill, for the most part you don't need to stress. When you do need to stress it's only momentary. You know things break from the moment you get out there, so there is no sudden anxiety that you didn't know what was gonna happen. You plan a bit but you don't need to worry too much since there will always be something else to pick up. So you are always ready to pick up something at a moments notice. Which relieves you the moment you can. You also know thanks to the UI in this video what to prioritize so that decision is made easy and quickly. (functions just like the stamina tbh) if there were no breakable items in this game with what it's trying to achieve for the whole game, it would all fall apart. Now you worry about collecting, you worry about what things do and what to keep around. There is a ton of info you must consider and in most games as well you have to worry about things you can't keep. Being over incombered. Then there is hoarding of very specific and unique items. Which now get in the way. The game quickly becomes about those items and in most cases you don't end up using anything else. They want you to constantly use different things and just live in the moment. The whole game is built around this. They could not go with unbreakables. Even in the sequel, longevity is extended and usage is modifiable, but the overall tone and feel will remain the same. Like seriously think about how everything functions in this game. The whole feel demands this to have happened. edit: my idea is for the weapon themselves to showcase breaking, color fading and chipping for ex. Like this had to happen but the UI could have been better still even though it did well. i agree it could have been better. (technically i guess my idea isn't UI but should not be necessary to have a UI for it and therefore even more unobtrusive)

[@SnoConeWars]

I'm in the somewhat unusual camp of feeling neutral on the breakability mechanic in botw. It didn't frustrate me like it can and often does in other games, but I felt like it needed some more oomph to it, some more integration to make it shine.

[@evrenandtheivy2288]

Getting a resource from weapons breaking could have been that imo… it would actually incentivise using up weapons!

[@Ozzianman]

Hits that break weapons does 2x damage. So I just yeet when I get the headsup. I don't mind the durability system and I consistently have more weapons than I know what to do with because I do shrines, find treasure chests and occasionally loot the castle. I know weapons are scarce at early game, but you should not really go out of decent weapons in mid and late game. Feels like the game is just throwing weapons at me currently.

[@polar_]

I feel like Tears of the Kingdom’s Fuse mechanic did just that!!

[@Zivhayr]

Breakable weapons are a great mechanic and give a wonderful gameplay loop that would otherwise be completely devoid of decision making or interest. Great video!

[@aidanfleming7229]

Wow! Brilliant video, I never even considered how the arrow cheapens the weapons. I really liked the weapon system in BOTW and always said it was because of that constant sense of progression and the arrow is a huge part of that.

[@memeithink]

Gotta love the fight meme refrence with every single power ranger

[@Mikuru-inkings]

Love the line. You are the last emotional defence. Dont know why, just had me laughting for a bit.

[@ethankleins1117]

Another nice little addition to the UI is weapons in your inventory have a little sparkle if they haven't lost durability yet. While it doesn't outright give a value to the durability, it's something that gives you an idea of what you have and haven't used. It's subtle and I'm not sure a lot of people notice it but it's an incredibly handy inclusion without adding any clutter whatsoever

[@Swack]

This was so good! I love the concept, sometimes it can be hard to craft an entire essay out of a niche topic, almost like it doesn't warrant it's own video, at least that's my experience, but your elaboration was super cool to listen to! you fleshed a minimal concept out into an interesting commentary on the whole system, I'm running out of big words, very cool stuff :D

[@Afterthoughts]

Hooray, thank you! :) I can't believe how well people have responded to these niche deep dives; initially I thought nobody would be all that interested. I'm happy to discover that's not true! xD

[@yis8fire]

Wait a minute... What's up swack?

[@Swack]

@@yis8fire Hola! Fancy seeing you around these parts!

[@yis8fire]

@@Swack yea, i check this channel from time to time, i really enjoy afterthoughts botw video's

[@mozata6838]

@@Afterthoughts When someone really knows their stuff, is passionate about it, and can funnel it through a super polished & entertaining style of presentation, it never gets old. You make great stuff!

[@Apatheory]

7:26 that freeze frame gave me temporary vision impairment

[@VCosmoz]

The indie game Going Under, partially inspired by Breath of the Wild, has the same exact detail when picking up a new weapon, with the same color coded arrows and everything, which is pretty cool

[@Afterthoughts]

I’ve never heard of that! I’ll have to check it out!

[@VCosmoz]

@@Afterthoughts Highly recommend it! It's a roguelike about mocking startup culture and capitalism as a whole, and the entire combat is based around destructible weapons. It's very fun!

[@TurquoiseIcy]

That's how you create a design language.

[@madeline6951]

I find your analysis endearing. I've seen other people critique Zelda games for being very hand-holdy, explaining every challenge you face. But actually having to familiarise yourself with the weapons and learning what you like is pretty freeing. Cool!!

[@Benjahusky]

4:11 Bill S Preston and Theodore Logan Spock the Rock Doc Ock and Hulk Hogan-

[@Afterthoughts]

ALL CAME OUTTA NOWHERE LIGHTNING FAST

[@losisansgaming2628]

​@@Afterthoughts And the kicked chuck Norris in his cowboy ass

[@arorioart6008]

​@@Afterthoughts IT WAS THE BLOODIEST BATTLE THE WORLD EVER SAW

[@ZaItan1]

Don't forget the generally frustrating moment when you try to pick up a weapon and the game informs you have no room. It's one of the few moments that can break immersion by often forcing the player to open their menu, scan the weapons (gratefully it auto-jumps to that screen!), and choose one among many to drop before carrying on. I felt so much satisfaction when I realized I could instead use the up-arrow mini-HUD to switch to the weapon I meant to drop, and instead throw it, all without ever leaving the pretty overworld view.

[@MontegomeryLoL]

As a frontend web developer those diagrams hit me right in my very soul.

[@raccoonmoder]

i think making diagrams like that should inherently disqualify you from designing frontends/UIs :P

[@jestrada014]

This video makes me want to play again with no fear of breaking weapons! Such a nice detail of UI

[@LoadsOfMana]

This video answered so many questions that I didn't even realize I needed answers to about the UI in the game I'm working on which is mechanically completely unrelated lmao. Thanks 😁😁

[@Afterthoughts]

Oh, hooray! :O I'm actually super curious if you're open to explaining what that is!

[@LoadsOfMana]

@@Afterthoughts I doubt I could put it into words, which was my issue before lol. Just some design choices I was struggling with that became easier after hearing some of the concepts presented here. :)

[@BigRheno]

I’ve honestly liked the durability system in the game for lack of a better term. It keeps me from just using the same weapons constantly and makes me super excited to find the ones I know are really good. See that text of death on the bottom of the screen? No problem, swing the weapon one or two more times and then toss it for a double damage bonus. Being creative in how you play and understanding the interactions of elements can also make weak weapons extremely strong. Take the 24 damage ice sword. Every time you crack an enemy from freezing, it’ll do roughly double damage. This means I can go between 24 and 48 damage each swing, or pull out a waaaay stronger weapon to get a big crit off. No better feeling than freezing an enemy and pulling out a 108 lynel smasher to obliterate them from existence. Not to mention using a balloon on a bomb and blowing it into an enemy camp with a leaf to nuke them all with all the bombs everywhere.

[@LaughingLinguist]

I think it would have been nice to include small symbols next to the weapon to show additional effects, like a fire symbol next to a fire weapon or wand or a wind symbol for the korok leaf. I think that would still be easily read and would allow new players the chance to understand the complex benefits of a weapon at a glance. That would help them do as you did; climbing on top of the system to reach new heights

[@Afterthoughts]

I love that idea! I think that would really add to player excitement when they saw an unfamiliar icon - it'd make me really excited to try new weapons. "OOOH what's that??"

[@badladyami]

The whole game is built on the premise of "fuck around and find out". If you reveal too much detail, you're disincentivizing the experimentation. The tease compels it.

[@GHZARK]

I agree with this. I was going to say that it would be obvious if a weapon has an elemental effect on it like the fire, ice or electric sword since they are literally coloured to be glowing red, blue and greenish yellow. But having some kind of icon could allow more creative freedom on the designs of the weapons or tools so that those glowing aspects would be unnecessary. E.g. could have a simple metal staff that was still grey but had electric or even flame elemental capabilities. Heck, it could literally be the same item with a chance of those different effects applied to it. This could even then be expanded upon in a crafting or fusing system of some kind where you could attach elemental properties yourself from stuff u have scavenged and apply them to your favourite weapons.

[@angelo8606]

No, I really don't see the point. Aside from the wind element (which is only a single weapon, the Korok leaf), every elemental weapon is very obvious in its design. When you see a Flameblade, an ice rod, etc, you don't need to see its name to guess what it does.

[@creature6715]

@@badladyami but there are weapon descriptions in the game already, it already does what you're criticising this hypothetical for

[@menuki6996]

Press "L" to "hurr hurr" lol! Just found your channel and I absolutely love your stuff so far! There is nothing quite like absorbing someone talking passionately about so many things that make a game fantastic. So many of these things are entirely overlooked and I'm guilty of that myself, so damn, your videos really help me appreciate BotW/TotK even more! And oh my I LOVE your drawings to illustrate as well which feel almost underrated given how briefly the are given screentime, lovely creative stuff!

[@Tutorial7a]

This is still one of the best channels out there for UI. Absolute masterpieces from beginning to end.

[@nera124]

Honestly, your three zelda videos about "ookswee" has made me absolutely obsessed with ux and ui design! I'm even thinking about doing one of the two as my job! It's so interesting and seems so fun! So thanks a lot! I actually have an idea of what I want to do in the future now!

[@Afterthoughts]

yes!! :) and it applies to so many areas beyond games. Any time you can ask the question, "how does this design affect the people who encounter it?" there's an interesting question to answer!

[@shamuuuu]

I loved your explanation on how the UI influences your exploration of the game's mechanics and gets you to be proficient with weapons! I also feel like the fact that weapons break is in itself part of that influence into learning how the game operates without it explicitly telling you in tutorials. The combat system in BotW is very versatile and you can come up with creative ways to clap your enemies but that's not inherently obvious. Weapon durability serves as an insentive to explore those creative ways instead of breaking your weapons. So I feel like in a way, it is a neccessary (evil) part of the game, without it, I wouldn't have been motivated to try and kill enemies by dropping metal boxes on their heads or punt them into puddles of water with stasis. Hell, I wouldn't have even realized that was an option. It gives such a strong victory rush when you come up with these different strategies and they actually work. Weapon durability just reinforces one of BotW's core features: exploring and learning without having the game hold your hand through it. It's actually a pretty clever way to make you think outside of the box in my opinion. It can get annoying sometimes for sure, so I get the frustration, but I don't think the feature deserves as much hate as it got, especially if you think about *why* it was implemented in the first place. Regardless, I really enjoy your videos and they make me appreciate how much work goes into UX

[@Notanotherninja]

Just wanted to say I really liked this video! Saw your previous video on the botw stamina wheel a few months ago and it was also an instant favourite; your enthusiasm for UI is infectious, and your explanations have caused me to pay more attention to/think about how games communicate information to me as a player!

[@CDank]

This is an absolute banger of a video. I really respect the work that went into this. You're going places, friend. Subbed and loved.

[@aceofblades1677]

It always amazes me just how much impact every itty-bitty decision like this can have. There really isn't anything in game design that you shouldn't think through carefully before you do it. it also amazes me that I just watched a twelve-minute video on such a small detail and enjoyed it. Well payed.

[@Tech_Marauder]

My issue with breakable weapons was never the losing them, and I assume this UI is a large part of that. I was comfortable with their discardability. My issue was that there was little else tangible reward wise to counter their discardability. The system devalued exploration because most tangible rewards had almost no value, and large portions of the map were very barren and same-y feeling, so overall, exploration stopped feeling very rewarding to me after like 50 hours and everything started gelling together into one homogenous experience. Those first 25 hours or so were absolutely magical, though.

[@Mightylcanis]

Some people are just built different, I guess. I loved exploring BotW for all of my 200+ hours in it.

[@TheBreadPirate]

Great job with the editing on this! I loved all of the funny jump cuts and clever scripting.

[@Skip6235]

I love the weapon durability. It’s great! It totally changes the game for the better

[@adrienfialho4297]

The little shiny icon in the inventory letting you know that its unused is also very subtle and left for the player to figure it out, which makes it all a pleasant experience. Contrast to any game with lots of number/stats constantly changing weapons you’d sell for a currency, here you exchange your shiny battle axe ++ for that satisfying [insert weapon break noise] on a lynel’s face!

[@barocklawrence8744]

SHINY!!!...wasn't sure what to put here so i put SHINY

[@ironicallypineapple]

I like the breakable weapons because it gives me a chance to try out everything and see what I like, and I get really excited when I find something really good and I can experience that over and over because it’s temporary

[@razbuten]

Stay mad haters.

[@Afterthoughts]

Let’s see if Nintendo can bring ‘em around 😆

[@Breezeezee]

I gotta say your editing is ON POINT, I love all of the cuts to weapons breaking, the visual gags like the kitchen cupboard, the screen shake when you cough at the UI venn diagram - this might be a bit hyperbolic but I honestly don't know if I've ever seen better editing, and I watch a LOT of KZbin

[@FelixSR]

I've spent over 300 hours in the game, and I had NEVER realised that there was a down or up arrow depending on the strength of the weapon when picking it up. Brilliant video, thanks for making this! The editing and writing were truly amazing!

[@lacytheespeon517]

I love breakable weapons because it makes gameplay more constantly fun. Other games, you get a better weapon, you completely cast aside the others and never use them again because you don't feel the need to. But with breakable weapons it adds more depth to the gameplay, makes you get out of your comfort zone more often, and encourages you to find different ways to use different weapons.

[@existence9994]

6:39 oh... you were supposed to throw those?

[@Freelance_Fandom_Collector]

Oops.

[@bonyeni]

Yesss being able to open my inventory while in chest to replace something with the loot inside is AWESOME Especially after getting pissed off in BotW by it forcing you to sit through it telling you your inventory is full and having to open it up separately

[@Fertix43]

Thanks for making this! I'm in the "I think weapon durability was good for botw" camp, haha. Even though I usually wouldn't like that kind of thing! But if the game didn't have it, I'd have all the weapons within hours, and would have just found one good or comfortable weapon and never tried ANY of the other weapons, missing out on the experience of learning all the different qualities of all the weapons. It's tough for people to get past their attachment to their tools, it would seem.

[@Buglin_Burger7878]

What qualities? Swords function as swords consistently, spears as spears, and 2-handed as 2-handed. Aside from elemental and wooden weapons they all function 1:1 in use.

[@paulpickett4522]

4:14 - Okay, the rhyming didly that ended with "...every single power ranger" earned my subscription xD

[@luckaoralkova6131]

Skip to 3:47 for the song

[@UmbraX1]

I’ve never hated the breakable weapons design. Yes it can be annoying but it’s always that much more rewarding to find a weapon. You’ll treasure it like it’s a key item and make using it that much more important as it’s an “emergency only” sorta deal.

[@cheezeebutter452]

I absolutely loved the breakable weapons and I just don’t understand why others do not. I’ve heard that they fear losing their weapons but that is almost impossible if you’re playing the game the way it is intended. If you hoard your weapons you WILL run out I guarantee it, but if you fight enemies you will get more weapons than you lose. Sure they may not ALWAYS be better than what you have but that’s not the point. The point is to force you to play around with your weapons rather than to do the same strategy over and over which is a huge problem with unbreakable weapons and it’s like. I played BOTW a total of three times, and only ONCE did I find myself without weapons, and that was one of the most fun moments I’ve had playing the game.

[@PrincessOfTheEnd]

^

[@GS_CCC]

Its not that they break, but that every enemy encounter feel meaningless because i wiil get some weapons that will break in the next fight and waste the ones I already have, so i end up skipping every enemy. Also i always save the good weapons because they will break so i try not wasting them, it would be better to have the durability of stuff like elemental weapons recharges outside of combat and the random weapons breakable, you would still have to use multiple weapons but would not waste it.

[@cheezeebutter452]

@@GS_CCC Thats exactly what I’m talking about. If you continue doing _exactly_ that then you’re not gonna have a good gaming experience with BOTW. Nintendo made this game so that you’re _supposed_ to dispose of your good weapons even if at the moment there’s only some weaker weapons. There are times where you will want to save your strong weapons, but for the most part if you hoard you _will_ lose. I beg of you, please, try to stop hoarding your weapons. Thrash em and bash em all around and switch to the next weapon and thrash and bash those around too. Eventually you’ll be given better weapons regardless. BOTW is the first “fuck inventory” friendly game I think most gamers have played and I think that is a good thing. Most games, players end up saving a bunch of even useless temporary items to “save” them for the “right” moment. That moment almost never comes though even when against a tuff as nails foe. BOTW was Nintendo’s answer to that long and troublesome question, “how do we get players to stop hoarding temporary items?” Their answer wasn’t perfect, especially for players used to hoarding, but they answered: First, make almost all items temporary so we instill in the players _not_ to _hold_ onto _ANYTHING!_ Second, we reward players with new items every time they get into an encounter where items will likely be lost. Please, Araujooj, I beg of you to try and waste your weapons despite the fact that it goes against every gamer instinct you have. I promise you will have more fun doing so, and if you don’t then BOTW just wasn’t made for you, I’m sorry. Why it works for me is because there’s no one strategy I can just rinse and repeat due to the constantly changing weapons. I’ll go from mostly heavy swords to average sized swords to long swords to special swords and so on. I constantly have to change my fighting approach based on the weapons I have and the enemies I’m fighting. That will only improve in TOTK it seems with the combining mechanic, combining spears with spears, swords with elemental stuff, heavy swords with heavy object possibly! It’s amazing! I’ve almost never ran out of weapons this way. I’ve never encountered an enemy I couldn’t defeat this way, given I was far enough into the game because some enemies are supposed to be almost impossible to defeat a while into the game.

[@azerik92]

The Ultimate Showdown reference got me smiling, and if that's not worth a sub idk what is.

[@Irish_Enderman]

I don't understand why people hate the durability system, its just a sword, if it breaks, get another, If you are getting emotionally attached to your edge of duality or flameblade you are the problem, not the durability

[@Dharengo]

This tbh.

[@MyBiPolarBearMax]

I stumbled across a video of yours late last night and i just wanted to let you know this is super cool information and i love learning about it/seeing this thought put into it. Great work!

[@Kikeh350]

This is super entertaining and well explained, I love how you go deep into small details of this mastercrafted game that have more impact than meets the eye, with such effort and clarity.

[@Dilloon]

4:02 "drop an apple on the ground, change a horse from blue to brown" lyrical genius 🤯

[@kitsuneprincess4637]

3:47 This part was absolute gold!

[@renii6587]

i LOVE your sense of humour throughout this video while also being very informative

[@cakes1831]

I love your enthusiasm you give into what ever topic. It's very entertaining and funny

[@caidenkehrer6124]

Ok your fast speech and ability to communicate precisely and hilariously has earned a subscriber from me. I am so in love with your content! Great job!

[@Neptoon_dev]

I like how simple but thoughtful the hi is in botw/totk

[@chimklee]

i need someone like you in my life i just wanna geek out about ui design to someone and have them relate …unfortunately i know no one like that :(

[@Afterthoughts]

Maybe treat it as a fun challenge to see if you can express your love for something in a way that sweeps your friends up into it! haha. The stamina wheel video started by me geeking out to my friends for 15 minutes. My favorite video essays seem like attempts to express something interesting to people who typically might not care about it. :D

[@caffelino9687]

YES THANK YOU this video is beautiful and explains beautifully how game design works even in the smallest things like a small arrow next to a wpn name. simply amazing

[@nyo24]

liked and subscribed after the Ultimate Showdown reference, that was impressive flow

[@adamkaris]

4:10 Ultimate showdown reference is what finally tipped me to subscribe

[@blinkjay6630]

I personally loved the idea of breakable weapons because it just showed that what you do in battle is important will affect the near future of gameplay. Great video

[@cadebabade]

I’m glad to find someone else who at least doesn’t mind weapon breakage. I thought it was great bc it kept me from getting too attached to any one weapon