Saving in Shenmue 3 is mercifully a lot more flexible than in its predecessors. While the game has the veneer of 2000-era Dreamcast title, there are some modern conveniences that make the experience much more palatable. How you save and how autosave works in Shenmue 3 is like most games released these days. However, the process is hidden if you don’t know where to look.
How do you save in Shenmue 3?
Just like in previous games, you can save in Shenmue 3 by inspecting your bed. Just press the D-Pad in the direction of “Save” and the menu will pop up and you can choose a save slot.
However, going to your bed every single time you want to save in Shenmue 3 is a huge hassle. Given that the in-game clock is continually ticking, you don’t want to keep running back to your bed. This is especially true in the first part of the game, since Shenhua’s house is a lengthy jog from the village where you’ll spend most of your time.
Thankfully, you can also perform a manual save via the menu. To do so:
- Hit R1 to bring up the menu.
- Scroll down to the “Settings” option.
- In the Settings menu, select “Save/Load.”
- Highlight “Save.”
- Press X to confirm that you want to save.
Using this method, you can save anywhere at any time. This makes the relatively slow pace of the game a lot more tolerable, since you don’t have to worry about reaching any certain goal or location to save.
Does Shenmue 3 autosave?
The autosave in Shenmue 3 is a lot less reliable than the manual save system. It seems like it automatically saves your game after key story scenes. However, I’ve seen it autosave seemingly at random or refuse to autosave even after lengthy dialog.
When you perform a manual save via the menu, you’re actually telling the game to execute an autosave. When you return to the game after saving in the menu, you’ll see the autosave notification pop up, even though you technically made a manual save.
My advice is not to depend too heavily on the autosave system in Shenmue 3, especially since it’s so easy to perform a manual save wherever you want.
