Summary
The act of reloading a save to reverse an unwanted outcome, often called save scumming, is a contentious topic in gaming. Some would rather you face the consequences of your actions regardless of the outcome, while others prefer having the ability to keep retrying until they get the exact results they desire.
Fallout: New Vegas, Pentiment and Pillars of Eternity game director Josh Sawyer recentlyexpressed the former opinionon social media saying, “Manual save games were a mistake. They are the chicken nuggies of gaming: they bring you comfort but are bad for you and poison your gaming spirit.”
To Save Or Not To Save
Saving has always been all over the place in gaming. While the practice of having to finish a game in a single session is a thing of the past, there is still a variety of saving methods observable in triple-A games. You have the standard game that allows manual saving alongside regular autosaves, you have games that operate on a checkpoint system and games where you can only save at checkpoints.
Sawyer is presumably advocating for a game that doesn’t allow for manual saving and auto-saving after major events, essentially ‘locking in’ whatever decisions you made to reach that point. It’s not something we see in Fallout: New Vegas or Pillars of Eternity, but Pentiment operates on a similar system.
Raphael Colantonio, director ofDishonored, Weird West and anupcoming unnamed title, also pitched in with his thoughts, saying “I don’t disagree, but I let the gamers decide how they want to play, some just can’t play without it.” Colantonio added that he originally wanted no manual saving system on Weird West “so people had to own their choices” but this wasn’t implemented following playtest feedback.
It’s a debate that will likely rage forever in gaming circles. I couldn’t imagine getting the achievement for never being detected in Dishonored without save scumming, but for narrative-focused games where choices are paramount I think disallowing manual saves is the right way to go.
Fallout: New Vegas
WHERE TO PLAY
Welcome to Vegas. New Vegas.It’s the kind of town where you dig your own grave prior to being shot in the head and left for dead…and that’s before things really get ugly. It’s a town of dreamers and desperados being torn apart by warring factions vying for complete control of this desert oasis. It’s a place where the right kind of person with the right kind of weaponry can really make a name for themselves, and make more than an enemy or two along the way.As you battle your way across the heat-blasted Mojave Wasteland, the colossal Hoover Dam, and the neon drenched Vegas Strip, you’ll be introduced to a colorful cast of characters, power-hungry factions, special weapons, mutated creatures and much more. Choose sides in the upcoming war or declare “winner takes all” and crown yourself the King of New Vegas in this follow-up to the 2008 videogame of the year, Fallout 3.Enjoy your stay.
