The Veilguard’s Built-In Save Scumming Is a Game Changer

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home November 3, 2024 6 Views 7 Min Read
The Veilguard's Built-In Save Scumming Is a Game Changer



Key Takeaways

  • Dragon Age: The Veilguard has a built-in Temporary Decision Save system to encourage exploring different outcomes.
  • The system creates a save file before critical decisions, which players can reload to reconsider choices.
  • The game’s unique save feature is intended to allow players to experiment with various paths without being labeled as save scummers.



The concept of save scumming has been around for several decades now, offering players a chance to save their game before a major, potentially game-altering event or decision occurs, thereby enabling them another chance to avoid failure. However, despite its usefulness, save scumming hasn’t always had the best reputation, hence its name. Some gamers consider playing games this way to be “scummy” behavior, as it can ultimately trivialize the way a game is meant to be played, while others consider it an intentional second-chance system that can and should be taken advantage of. Now, being the choice-driven game that it is, Dragon Age: The Veilguard presents players with yet another opportunity to engage in save scumming.


The practice of save scumming has become increasingly prominent in choice-driven RPGs such as Dragon Age: The Veilguard, as it essentially acts as a glorified “undo” button that allows players to reverse the consequences of their decisions and try again. While some games make the consequences of their choices clear enough to understand, others are a bit more ambiguous and therefore might inadvertently encourage save scumming. Dragon Age: The Veilguard is one such game where the outcome of certain choices can be a bit difficult to discern, but it happens to have a built-in save-scumming system that is triggered just before some of its most significant decisions are made.

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Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s Temporary Decision Save System Is a Game Changer


Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s Temporary Decision Save System Creates a Save File Before Major Decisions

While it’s still possible to save scum in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, players don’t necessarily need to as much as they normally would, thanks to the game’s Temporary Decision Save system. With this system in place, players can count on the game itself automatically creating a separate save file just before they make a major decision in the story, like Dragon Age: The Veilguard‘s early choice of whether to save the mayor. After the save file has been created, players can reload it at any time and be transported to the moment right before the choice was presented to them.

Of course, as its name suggests, a Temporary Decision Save doesn’t last forever, so players wishing to take advantage of it will want to sooner rather than later.


Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s Temporary Decision Save System Is Glorified Save Scumming

What makes Dragon Age: The Veilguard‘s Temporary Decision Save system such a game changer is that it’s one of the few times a game has outright implemented a form of save scumming as a built-in feature. The main difference here is that players aren’t in direct control of the system, so they can’t be blamed for save scumming. Instead, this is Dragon Age: The Veilguard‘s way of encouraging players to experiment with different paths, suggesting it actually hopes that players will occasionally consider undoing their actions to experience the various possible outcomes of a choice.

Furthermore, the difference between Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s Temporary Decision Save system and a typical auto-save system is that, firstly, the save file’s name explicitly indicates that it was logged before an important decision was made in order to guide players more effectively, and secondly, it doesn’t get overwritten by one of the game’s regular auto saves. Ultimately, this frees players from needing to think about when the best time to save their game is, as well as when to anticipate a major story decision. This way, they can remain immersed in their game for the time being, until they consider whether to go back and alter their choice later.


It’s very rare for a game to implement intentional save scumming into its save mechanics, but it’s just one of the many things that make Dragon Age: The Veilguard the unique experience that it is. With BioWare now confirming that Dragon Age: The Veilguard will not be receiving any DLC as it turns its attention toward the next Mass Effect game, perhaps that means the Temporary Decision Save system will move on to Mass Effect as well.

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