Save points >>> Menu saving in my opinion

[NightmareFarm]

One of my pet peeves with Tales of Arise is they took out save points in favor of modernised manual and automatic saving. It seems like a pet peeve but I much prefer save points. It feels like there are actual stakes that way and once you beat a tough boss or get through a dungeon and see that shiny save point it feels so satisfying healing your team and saving your progress. 

[Crazycrab]

I get your point about having this kind of system adding suspense.  Being able to save whenever you want does remove a lot of that tension since loosing really has little to no consequence.  So I agree that it's not good to let a save anytime and anywhere they want with no restrictions.

 

With that being said, the more traditional save point system did used to really drive me nuts back in the day when I was playing some of the older Final Fantasy games.  I could loose 10 minutes or more of progress not because I got a fail state, but I because had to stop playing to go to work, school or run some other errand and didn't have time to go back to a save point.

 

I think the best system is the one in Horizon Zero Dawn/Forbidden West.  You need to get to a campfire to manually save like in those older games but:

1. It autosaves as well.
2. You can fast travel.
3. A campfire is never more than a few minutes away.

As a player you should only be at risk of failure, not of having to stop.

[m76]

Yeah save points are a good addition to suspense in games. You can not interact with them when you are in a fight, so it can't be exploited like in many other checkpoint based games.

Beiing able to save at will is good for many games, but it can also lead to recklessness. If you are not worried about failing at all, because you save at every corner that kind of takes away the suspense. Which in turn reduces immersion.

[Clasher]

What keep the fun Alive for me in a game is when you strife to complete a certain level or villian and reach that saving point or power up point just like they do in God of War. Most of the fun would be taken away from the game if it gets to auto save or something of that sort at every point or section of the game.

[Head_Hunter]

I activated auto-save on PES series when I was playing it,  because I don't want to lose a fantastic performance, that's the reason why the auto save mode is turned up. 

[Scorpion]

I totally get that! Save points add a sense of accomplishment. They create real tension and reward after tough battles. Missed them too!

[killamch89]

I get where you're coming from but I prefer the more traditional menu saving option myself.