Last week I was playing through the recently released Dementium Remastered, a horror first-person shooter for 3DS. The game is segmented into different chapters, yet when I died for the first time I was teleported back to the last save point. That wouldn’t typically be a problem, except that save point was 2 chapters behind where I was. That meant I had to retrace my steps, and explore the same corridors I just did before. Why did I have to retrace my steps you ask? Well, it is because the game uses the same archaic progression system that should’ve died more than a decade ago. Dementium Remastered is far from the worst offender of still using save points in video games, it’s just the one that ended up being the “straw-that-broke-the-camel’s-back” for me.
Now game developers will have to take the shotgun out of the gun cabinet, and take save points on a trip to the woodshed or backyard, Ol’ Yeller style.
In modern gaming, save points are most prevalent in Japanese role-playing games. In some ways it makes sense, it’s a genre that plenty of gamers, and more importantly game designers, have fond memories of. If a classic such as Chrono Trigger has save points, it seems reasonable to think that someone trying to recapture that sense of nostalgia would also implement the same system. The key problem with that logic is that save points are not what made Chrono Trigger an amazing game.
Sadly, just because games once had a feature isn’t a good reason to still include them. Video games have evolved, and there are better ways for players to save their progress. Both checkpoints, and the ability to save at any point in a game, are modern standards. There is no advantage to limiting a player’s ability to save the game.
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“It’s time to stop holding on to an outdated system like auto save points.”
Having reviewed many JRPGs over the past few years, I can’t say that auto save points have ever enhanced the experience. Instead, it just brought on plenty of aggravation. Imagine spending hours of mindlessly grinding in a JRPG, only to lose all of that progress because you accidentally (e.g. took a wrong path) ran into a powerful enemy that wiped out your party in one hit. I don’t have to imagine it; I’ve felt this pain too many times.
It’s not like this is a new problem, though. As someone who played a ton of RPGs as a kid, I distinctly remember keeping my PlayStation on while I was at school since I did not have the opportunity to save the game, and I didn’t want to play the same section again. It was a workaround to a problem, but not a surefire one. I’m sure many readers remember the horror of coming home, and finding out that one of your parents had turned off your system unknowingly.
It should be noted that there are some notable exceptions where save points are an essential part of the game design. Games like Bloodborne and Resident Evil would not be the same without restricting saving. Save points, like any game mechanic, can be used to great results, but the vast majority of games that use them are not enhanced in any way or form.
Video games are great because they have been able to adapt over time, and get better with new technology. It’s time to stop holding on to an outdated system like auto save points. Let’s make gaming better, and get rid of most save points in 2016.