I was digging through my old stuff at my parents' place and found my original PlayStation, but the memory card is completely corrupted. I had a whole save file for Final Fantasy VII that was just gone. It got me wondering, for games that don't let you save anywhere, how do you all handle the commitment? I remember getting to a certain point in a JRPG and just having to leave the console on for days, which feels wild now.
that memory card crash must feel like losing a chapter of your own save data in a game you carried for years
older games stitched progress to sparse save points which makes each choice feel heavier and the commitment grows with time
so you could only save at fixed spots I thought most games let you pause and save anywhere that sounds rough
i get the skeptical take but i wonder if the design itself was meant to teach you patience and test your tolerance for risk rather than demand unbroken endurance
maybe the question is really about time and interruptions how long can you let a story sit before you forget where you were and why it mattered and what a save even meant in that moment
save scumming is a cheeky term but it hints at how chasing the perfect save changes how you experience a stretch of the story
maybe someday you start a fresh save on a new card and see which parts still pull you back into the world without feeling tethered to old rituals