I'm a huge fan of all things Lovecraft, so I was very excited to discover Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss. One of my favorite horror games of all time is Dredge, a fishing simulator with a dark twist, and I'm always keen to explore a vast and terrifying ocean.
Since Cthulhu is a cosmic horror icon, it's no surprise I was immediately drawn to a game about him. Those who hate horror games with loads of jump scares will be happy too, as this is far more atmospheric and focuses on the mystery and investigation.
Admittedly, there's a lot to like about Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss from its fun puzzles to its multiple endings, which is why I'm even more frustrated about the fact one thing spoils the experience for me.
As noted in TechRadar's Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss review, the game's save system is endlessly frustrating. It's easy to lose your progress here, which is no good for people who can only spare a few hours of gaming time a week.
It feels a little unfair to expect people to power through, effectively getting them stuck in the game until they find a save point. Indeed, its autosave feature only seems to trigger under specific circumstances, and those are unclear a lot of the time.
Considering there are lots of puzzles, it's especially frustrating when the game doesn't save after solving one. I'm not a huge fan of replaying the same puzzle over and over at the best of times, especially when I've already solved it once.
The strange autosave feature does feel like it's an easy fix and honestly, the rest of the game is a fairly smooth experience, in my opinion at least. But I need a reliable saving system if I'm going to fully immerse myself in a game, which is why I haven't completed Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss yet.
Reports from other players have suggested it can take anywhere between 8 - 15 hours to complete. This is dependent on several factors including your puzzle solving skills and if you're planning on taking your time to savor the story and environment or not.
So, sure, it's not a massive game, but it's also not short enough to justify an unreliable saving system. I wouldn't mind if I could hit the credits it in a couple of hours, but it's frustrating to find hours of work has disappeared even though you were sure you'd saved.
I'm hopeful this does get changed in future updates because aside from this, I'm enjoying the game's world and do actually want to finish it. If we do get the option to save manually as we go, it would improve Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss a lot.
