News Returnal needs an autosave — and if you disagree, I’ll fight you

[admin]

Returnal's biggest problem is Housemarque — and the players indulging them.

Returnal needs an autosave — and if you disagree, I’ll fight you : Read more

 

[Cozyflyer]

I disagree with so much of this article, but will summarize as not all triple A games should have the same feature set or even baseline "quality of life" funtionality. There has to be room for niche big budget games, experimental feature sets and significant departures from the expected to spur innovation, increase our audience and diversify our experiences. Case in point, as an older (40+) gamer, I thought I knew my "type" of game (3rd person open world "sword and board" fantasy RPG) and wouldn't like Returnal especially in a multi-user household. I LOVE IT JUST AS IT IS. I play one run every few days, get slightly farther, learn/earn something new (or don't) and turn it off after. I have not finished yet, but I think an auto-save will break the game's longevity as I believe it is already very short. Should others be able to petition a change that takes that enjoyment away from me?

I am not saying and DESPISE the phrases "just don't play it" or "find another game". I think they are divisive, exclusatory and not what developers intend when they release their game. I would ask the opposite, try the game, see if it is right for you and if it is not, please understand that is OK. Understand that someone likes that game just as designed and intended, and in the long run those differences make the whole gaming landscape better.

 

[Iozefka]

I disagree with so much of this article, but will summarize as not all triple A games should have the same feature set or even baseline "quality of life" funtionality. There has to be room for niche big budget games, experimental feature sets and significant departures from the expected to spur innovation, increase our audience and diversify our experiences. Case in point, as an older (40+) gamer, I thought I knew my "type" of game (3rd person open world "sword and board" fantasy RPG) and wouldn't like Returnal especially in a multi-user household. I LOVE IT JUST AS IT IS. I play one run every few days, get slightly farther, learn/earn something new (or don't) and turn it off after. I have not finished yet, but I think an auto-save will break the game's longevity as I believe it is already very short. Should others be able to petition a change that takes that enjoyment away from me?

I am not saying and DESPISE the phrases "just don't play it" or "find another game". I think they are divisive, exclusatory and not what developers intend when they release their game. I would ask the opposite, try the game, see if it is right for you and if it is not, please understand that is OK. Understand that someone likes that game just as designed and intended, and in the long run those differences make the whole gaming landscape better.

While I can support the sentiment that all games should try to experiment with mechanics and features, not including a save function is hardly "innovation". The lack of a standard save function has caused such problems that the developer had to ask people to disable a PS5 auto-update function that works across all games. All the way through my playthrough my game crashed 2 times(once in the last biome). Not a lot, but certainly enough to have me worried that it would crash and have me lose all progress again. Also note that most popular games in this genre save your progress if you need to quit mid-run (Hades, Binding of Isaac, etc.) and part of the problem is those titles are SHORTER than Returnal.

The majority of players cannot try Returnal unless they borrow it because there is no DEMO and this is a 70 dollar game. It's a shame. I love the gameplay so much but basic functionality would make the game more accessible and easier to recommend.