It’s late, I’m exhausted, and I’m finishing up my first night with Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet.
I decide to call it a night and try to find the save option in the menu. My heart starts to quicken as my anxiety rises – there’s no save option. Okay, no problem. I probably just have to find a save portal. I must have passed one somewhere. I go over every interactable object in my character’s bedroom, assuming there must be one close by. Still nothing. Now I’m panicking. How the hell do you save?
The answer? You can’t.
I wish I knew then what I know now. There is no way to manually save your game in Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet. Luckily, the game autosaves every time you move from one area to another. It’s important to remember, however, that the game will not autosave during combat. If you’re in the middle of a mission and you’re wanting to exit the game, either finish up what you’re doing or be prepared to replay the last however many minutes.
It’s an odd choice, not allowing any sort of manual saves in the game, but it’s not one I haven’t seen before. Most games I’ve played without any manual save option at least does me the service of telling me up-front, while Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet spellbindingly ignores how most players are accustomed to saving their games, and merely reminds you that the spinning wheel at the bottom of the screen is important and that you probably shouldn’t turn off your console when it’s on. With four save slots available when you select the New Game option at the game’s main menu, selecting one that already has a save file will simply load the save. That’s all nice info I would have liked to know earlier than when I found out.
If I’m sounding a bit angry, it’s because I stayed up an extra hour running around the game’s hub town trying to figure out what I was missing. After trying and failing to find any answers online, I figure this deserved its own PSA. Maybe that’s on me, though. I could be the lone idiot on the internet. Either way, don’t freak out if you can’t find the save option. Most likely, the game auto-saved for you within the last minute or two. You’ll be good.
