Meter Maid
Like
basically everyone else in the gaming community, I’ve been playing through The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild over
the past few weeks. And just like most others, I’ve been enjoyed it. It really
feels like a new and unique take on the franchise, not just another installment
in a thirty year old series.
But
every rose must have its thorns, and one of my biggest gripes with Breath of the Wild is that it
accidentally shone a spotlight on what’s been a huge problem in gaming for
years: an overdose of meter management under the guise of “realism”.
Meters
beyond the standard health, ammo and mana counters are fairly new entries to
the gaming scene, becoming popular after the survival genre hit it big with the
success of Minecraft. Suddenly,
everybody was throwing more and more things that could slow down your quest at
you, from weather to noise to hunger to stamina to the much maligned weapon
durability meters. Some games feel like they have a counter for literally
everything you do.
And
I really, really want this trend to come to a stop before we get any further.
One
thing I’ve always said about big open world games like Breath of the Wild is that the beauty of them is in the freedom.
Players of those games want to feel like they can go do anywhere and do
whatever they want, and the only thing stopping them is not being strong enough
to take on whatever monster they face. While the inclusion of a million meters
might add a little touch of realism to your adventures, I really want to know who
ever played a video game and thought to themselves “hmm, this is great, but I
really wish it was more like my boring everyday existence!”
I
get why Nintendo made Link start losing hearts if he finds himself in the snowy
mountaintops without the proper equipment, but I personally just feel like it’s
something that just gets in the way of enjoyment rather than enhancing the
experience. When I need to turn back because I don’t have the right coat or
potion to climb that peak, I don’t feel excited to come back later on with the
tools I need. I honestly feel shortchanged, like there’s adventure to be had
beyond the wilderness but I’m just not allowed to go there yet. In a game where
freedom seems to be the defining factor behind the design of the world, having
a bunch areas gated by weather doesn’t seem very free, does it?
Still,
it’s understandable. It can be rewarding to travel far and wide to finally get
that tunic you need to enter the frozen wasteland or the boiling volcano. Plus,
this could result in even more exploration, discovering new secrets and finding
new areas, then coming back to finish the job later on. There are so many
distractions in Breath of the Wild that
it’s hard to stay focused on one thing at a time.
And
then there’s the infamous stamina and weapon durability meters. I feel my
argument of “realism doesn’t make it more fun” works here too. When I’m playing
as the Hero of Hyrule, I want him to be able to sprint longer than I can in
real life. When you leave the starting area of the game, Link’s stamina lasts
only a few seconds. I could sprint down my block barely breaking a sweat, and
yet here’s this buff dude who’s saved his kingdom time and again breaking down
after only a few seconds! The weapon durability doesn’t help either. I can
understand old rusty weapons, wooden clubs and stuff that states it shatters
easily having low durability, but when every single weapon in the game feels
like it’s made of glass you’ve done something wrong. I always find myself
saving the cool stuff I’ve found for a rainy day and mostly fighting with the
weakest stuff in my pockets just because I don’t want to lose my super rare
Sword of the Six Sages.
Stuff
like this can work in other genres though. I think that Breath of the Wild’s stamina and weapon durability would actually
work great in, say, a survival horror game. Trying to escape terrifying monsters
with very little running time would work great in a game that’s actively trying
to make you scared of your surroundings would truly add to the atmosphere, and
having the weapons you get be as durable as a granola bar would just be the
icing on the cake. I could really see something like Silent Hill or an Alien game
really make good use of these mechanics. But Zelda? I’m finished Breath of
the Wild, and while I absolutely loved it, the overuse of frustratingly
unbalanced meters would’ve killed many other games of lesser overall quality
before their first hour ended.
Overall, I can handle when a character can’t
enter a cold or hot area every once in a while. While complete freedom is
great, sometimes it can be even better through redirection and allowing the
player to take their time in preparation for the next part of their quest. But
there is a line where the “realism” starts to get in the way of having fun with
the game. Having your character double over after jogging for a few seconds
isn’t fun. Having to store favourite weapons away and never use them like they
were antique cars isn’t fun. The time has come to leave the meters in genres
primarily focused on survival and allow games to set the players free of these
restraints once more.
Song of the Week
Kakariko
Village (Day) – The Legend of Zelda:
Breath of the Wild
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