Is Using Save States Cheating?

[Chevywolf30]

Yes, but it doesn't matter.

The games in which save states are at their most prevalent these days tend to be older games from the 80s or 90s. Back then, you were trying to stretch out the game as much as possible, often through the use of broken, unfair difficulty that encouraged memorization and constant retries.

I like that point. Back then, having a single video game was a big deal, whereas nowadays we have the backlog. I've used them in my OoT (sorry I don't have a better example ) play through to get back to a certain point if I know all I'm skipping is backtracking. Other than that, I've tried to steer clear just to give myself an authentic experience.

 

[Mellow Ezlo]

I used save states in Zelda II only to practice dungeons and caves. To be more specific, I created save states at the start of each cave or dungeon and continued replaying the entire dungeon until I could beat it without losing a life. I considered saving before each enemy, but that seemed scummy to me and would have eliminated some of the sense of accomplishment. The way I did it helped me get good (or at least better) at the game so that I was able to then follow it up with an entire savestate free playthrough of the game. I did a similar thing with Zelda I.

I find save states for purposes like this, to practice rather than cheese your way through a game, to be fine. Other than that, it's really up to the player. I do probably consider using them excessively to be cheating, but as long as the player is still having a good time I don't see a huge problem with it. Especially if, like in my case, using the save states gives the player enough time to practice so that they can eventually get through the game legitimately.

 

[AwdryFan1997]

As someone with 58 savestates in Chrono Trigger, I can say that you're not always going to rely on the states you save. Very rarely do I start off using a savestate. Last time I remember actually using a state was during the fight with the Mud Imp and Red & Blue Beasts.

 

[Magolor04726]

Well, it depends. Am I just starting the NES version of Punch Out!! and have no experience with the series outside of Smash? Of course it isn't cheating. Am I playing Donkey Kong Country and went back just because I accidentally ran into an enemy? Of course that's cheating. Am I using it to save my state because I have other things to do? Of course it isn't. Am I using it to replay Mario Kart until I get first in every race? Yeah, that's also cheating.

It just depends.

 

[ExLight]

The game was developed in a certain way in mind, its difficulty and progression already consider stuff like checkpoint placement. Does a infamously difficult boss have the same impact if you just save your file before every attack? Or a difficult platform section with high stakes? If you manipulate RNG to always get the results you want how is abusing it any different from a cheatcode? Using saving files is not the intended way as it allows you to easily break almost any game, so yes, it is cheating. Even if you’re using it for minor things.

Does that mean it shouldn’t be used? Not necessarily, because it improves quality of life of games. It’s practical, it helps the game fit your pacing better, it helps you practice parts that would be incredibly tedious otherwise, prevent small accidents, and tbh it’s always nice to keep it going exactly from where you stopped.

 

[Farore's Chosen]

No. Especially not on older games that had no save features back then. I mean, we've all got things to do sometimes and we can't leave the tv on allll day long, till we can get back to it.

 

[Ragnarokio]

I've routinely heard this behaviour referred to as "savescumming" especially when used to avoid penalties like losing stuff on death or to game rng by reloading when you don't get the result you want.

I don't think there are any clearly drawn out rules with single player games and so i wouldn't say anything can be called cheating (even something like using trainers) although different behaviours are probably more or less against the spirit of the game. I personally prefer to play games without the use of advantage-proferring tools, and so I wouldn't be fine with abusing savestates (although i might use them if i suddenly need to leave and really don't want to lose my progress as an exception). I would however be fine with other behaviour referred to as "scumming" like using cheese strats to beat an enemy.

Ultimately single-player games are individual experiences though, so its up to you how you want to play them, regardless of how others would consider that behaviour.

 

[Gorozoron]

My view on is : If your going to review a game your playing never use save states the game designers didn't not intended on you using them if you do it will mess up criticism since you used a feature not intended to be used in the game, If there's a glitch in a game you can criticize the programmers. but If you use save states you messed up your experience and your points and critiques become weaker since you didn't play the game how it was supposed to be played
If your playing for just yourself and aren't reviewing the game and just want to have fun Dude use saves states as much as you want sure you'll probably ruin the experience but who cares play the game how you want to play it

 

[TL The Legend]

I think that savestates aren't cheating if and only if you have a justified reason to use them. Saving at every little thing throughout the game in case "something" happens is just stupid. If you don't want to die at a point where you have no right to die (like in an easy dungeon or while traveling through the overworld), then just, well, get good. That may sound mean, but it's true. But if you're going through something like a really tough/annoying dungeon that you would lose a lot of progress if you died in it (like the Forsaken Forest from WW---that thing took me forever to beat) or a tough boss that is really annoying to die to (like Ganon from ALttP--if you die or fall, you start it over again, and getting your fairies and potions back is a piece of cake, so dying is just nothing but an annoyance). Or sometimes annoying minigames (I actually used savescumming to beat the shooting galleries in MM by saving each time i beat a certain part, and reloading the save if i messed up). Savestates can help make parts of a game much less annoying and/or tedious, but abusing them just makes a game too easy. But if you want to save at every little part of the game, I ain't stopping you.

 

[Legendhero007]

Such a life savor when it came to Zelda 2 and how ridiculously hard it is. It was also a nice time save if I were to die during a boss battle in other older Zelda games on VC.

Hi, I admit I use save states in Zelda 2. Don’t think that I would attempt to play this game without using this feature.

 

[AwdryFan1997]

Hi, I admit I use save states in Zelda 2. Don’t think that I would attempt to play this game without using this feature.

Zelda 2 with save states and rewind is honestly a really solid game. I should definitely get back to it when I find the time.

I haven't really been playing many games lately, but when I do I try to avoid using save states just for a more authentic experience. But there always comes a time where you just gotta save that state, man. Video games are for your personal enjoyment. If you need save states to enjoy the game, who is anyone else to judge?

 

[OGSniper]

Hi, I admit I use save states in Zelda 2. Don’t think that I would attempt to play this game without using this feature.

I would definitely try to do it with and without save states at some point down the road.

 

[Killjoy262]

I think it depends on how they're used. If you're doing a no death challenge and use save state, then yeah I find it as a cheat. Other wise no.

 

[Apple34]

Cheating is a harsh word.

I personally don't consider a game beaten if I use save states, but that's my preference and a lot of people seem to use save states and there's all kinds of ways to play.

I use save states to save time learning levels and bosses on the snes mini and sega genesis mini 1 and 2, then I try and clear it as if that wasn't a possibility.

 

[Legendhero007]

Such a life savor when it came to Zelda 2 and how ridiculously hard it is. It was also a nice time save if I were to die during a boss battle in other older Zelda games on VC.

Couldn’t agree more. I wouldn’t have got as far as I have without using save states