Daily Debate: How Would You Alter Breath of the Wild’s Weather Systems?

For a while now, the Zelda series has attempted to integrate the shifting atmospheric tendencies of the real world. Sometimes this is done with a day and night cycle or with an occasional rainstorm. Whatever the method, most of these attempts have been somewhat rigid if not outright cosmetic. There’s no shame in this; few games have managed to integrate a weather system that’s either impactful or realistic. Breath of the Wild may have realized this concept better than any past video game, but it remains easy to see how it could be improved. How would you change the weather systems in Breath of the Wild?

Rain is the element that I believe could use the most alteration. Climbing is about as significant a mechanic as exists in Breath of the Wild and the hindrance a random shower can impose on this is a bit over the top. It makes sense that climbing in the rain (or snow, for that matter) would make climbing a sheer cliff more challenging. Rendering this absolutely central interaction virtually impossible, even with various buffs, would be a bad decision in any game. Simply slowing the climbing rate or limiting certain maneuvers would communicate the rain’s believability without putting such a damper on gameplay.

Having regions of arctic and arid extremes is a terrific concept. Just like in real life, bitter cold or oppressive heat can be intense, sometimes dangerous forces that act upon people. Unfortunately, I don’t think that really came through in Breath of the Wild. If you have the right clothing, a quick trip to the menu allows you to trivialize the issue. If not, it’s constant health depletion for you. Bringing potions seems like a healthy middle ground, but it’s effect basically mirrors the clothing solution and can vary in reasonability for each player. I think the problem here is the loss of hearts. This obscures the viability of continuing to explore in a way that more nuanced debuffs wouldn’t. Effects like a stamina regeneration penalty, reduced movement speed, or lowered defense would still give players something to mull over, with greater gameplay implications, while eliminating the annoyance or impossibility of continuing to explore.

What do you think? How would you change Breath of the Wild‘s weather systems? Are they already as good as they can be? What about lightning and sandstorms? Let us know in the comments below!

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