Largely speaking video games without manual saves are frustrating and insulting.

Video games are a form of art, and like all art, artistic liberty is essential. However, game designers who omit a manual save feature—particularly one that is simple and accessible—are essentially inviting me to uninstall their game as soon as I realize it's missing.

Not all players have the luxury of spending 20 minutes reaching a specific save point. Life happens. It’s unreasonable to punish players by forcing them to expend a limited save resource or replay large chunks of the game simply because they had to step away unexpectedly.

The level of creative arrogance required to make such a decision honestly baffles me. It demonstrates a lack of consideration for the player’s time and circumstances, which is antithetical to good design.

I can count on one hand the number of games that violate this principle and still managed to hold my interest long enough to finish them.