I wish all games would just let you save whenever you want to! Why is using checkpoints and auto saves so common?

At least add a quit and save option if you want to avoid save scumming.

These days I just want to be able to squeeze in some gaming whenever I can even if it’s just quick sessions. That’s annoyingly hard in games that won’t let you save.

I wonder what the reason for this is?

  • MJBrune@beehaw.org
    5·
    1 year ago

    That’s fair, you can certainly like the multiple saves and more user control. Personally, I feel like it boils down to what type of game I am playing. If I am playing a large RPG then yes, auto-save multiple times and let me have a ton of user control. if I am playing a roguelike in which a run will be over in 15 minutes, I don’t mind not having any control over my saves because I don’t care about an individual run most of the time. If I do, I spend the extra 5 minutes and finish up the run. For something like Just Cause or RDR2, I feel like their general save system is fine enough and gives a good cinematic feeling which outweighs any time I spend getting back to whatever I was trying to do. Which is typically just a few steps away from what I found.

    That said I’m probably diving too deep into this stuff. I develop games for a living so I am constantly thinking about the best system for the game. I don’t think every game would be better if it had a multiple-save slot auto-save system. I can understand why it’s not in scope or would hurt the experience. If Alien Isolation had just saved where ever you are, that game wouldn’t have been as intense as it was. It’d ruin the game.

    It’s fine to like the system, it works well for a lot of games but maybe it’s not a one-size fits all solution?

    • buckykat
      1·
      1 year ago

      I categorically dislike roguelikes specifically because their run based progression structure is fundamentally frustrating and uninteresting to me. For open world games, it’s not just the time, but also that the approximate saves make it harder to even remember what I was doing when I resume playing.

      I just don’t buy the idea that saves spoil the experience of a game. If you don’t want to use them, don’t.