Zelda Save Function a turn off to an otherwise great game?

I know I mentioned this in a previous thread but just thought I'd hone in on this point specifically. I'm new to the series on 3DS. I started with majora's... was understandably confused... and backtracked with ocarina. I love the gameplay, style, story, everything. I genuinely missed a good game back in the day when it came out. But good god the save function is utterly garbage. Why have a "save" option via START when it doesn't actually save anything but rupees and some "overcome" obstacles (like say a crate you moved prior to saving to help you jump up on something). It's not a deal breaker for me but a HUGE setback and honestly debilitating and "turn-off" function in the game for me. I work full time and I'm not about to leave my 3DS on idle for 12-24 hours at a time or fry the battery by leaving it in the charge port and closing the clam shell design. Does this frustrate the hell out of anyone else? I mean why the need for this in a handheld game in 2015 ('14... whenever the remaster came out)? Why on earth not have a save that saves you and all your progress exactly where you saved?

I have never turned my 3DS off. Ever. It's constantly on. It's designed to be always on. Don't be afraid to close the clam shell in the middle of the dungeon.

In saying that, I can understand that Zelda games aren't "newcomer" or "casual" friendly when it comes to dungeons. But really, when you save and quit, and restart at the beginning of the dungeon, it doesn't take long to get back to where you were before. Sure it felt like a long time the first time, but that's because of all the puzzles and combat you had along the way. Now that the "save" has all that updated, you can walk back to where you were.

I also think that Zelda dungeons are designed to be beaten in segments. You shouldn't do a little, and come back to it later. It's designed to be played in chunks. The first chunk is up to the mini boss, the second chunk is to the end of the dungeon. As a long time Zelda player, I've had this ingrained into me. I know when I approach a dungeon I should either take a break now, or be in it for the long haul. If you had a save state feature where it put it in the last room you were in, I could imagine feeling lost and not knowing what I had done or what to do next. Doing it in segments keeps it fresh in your mind on what to do next.

@trugs26 Never turning it off is a little strange to me, but maybe I'm just paranoid. Then again, I never turn my laptop off, ever. How long maximum have you had your 3DS (XL assuming you have one?) on at one point with a game actively running without it dying or depleting the battery? In other words how long do you recommend leaving it in "sleep mode" with a game running before you should check to make sure it doesn't need a charge. And yeah maybe I'm exaggerating a little at how annoying the save function is in Zelda just, idk, to me it's such a primitive 90s concept of having to "finish" a huge chapter or segment or lose all your progress (in terms of location)

@amyh7292: Your criticisms are definitely fair. I distinctly remember feeling the same way when I first played Zelda too. That feeling soon stopped after finishing the game and other Zelda games.

Hm, I'm not sure how long exactly. I recently got a New 3DS XL (previously I had a launch day original 3DS). Right now I'm playing Zelda Phantom Hourglass. I have yet to turn off or close the game. It's constantly on. I feel like I probably charge it maybe every second night.

Next time it goes flat, I'll do a test and just leave it in sleep mode (with a 3DS game running) and see how long it takes to go flat. I means I won't get to play my 3DS for a few days, but I'll do it in the name of science! :P

I take my 3DS with me to work every day. It's off the charger for at least nine hours. I usually get to play for maybe 45 minutes during the day. The battery (even on my old 3DS) was usually at three bars, sometimes four still. It has never run out of battery in sleep mode.

I've had it off the charger for up to 15 hours, and it's never gotten close to running out of battery. You only have to worry about that if you're actually going to be playing it for a couple of hours during that time.

I also never turn mine off. It's fine.

I never noticed. I don't turn my 3ds off and I don't remember losing any progress when saving and quitting to play sumthing else.

in majoars mask t6he theme is time repeating itself every 24hours.

thats why you lose everything.

try another Zelda, they don't all do that. I've played A Link Between World and when you save, you save. In MM since you constantly playing with time it may be a factor as why you loose a lot.

Lol nice one. But a minor correction is up to every 72 hours :P

@trugs26 I've been closing it for a little over a week now in between playing and I'm blown away by how long a full charge in sleep mode (with an active game) lasts! Maybe that's the point of being able to close it but for some reason the idea of shutting an active game was always a no-no to me. But thanks for the tips, I'll definitely be leaving mine on sleep mode at least while playing Ocarina and Majora's. Definitely prefer to turn it off for other games, but no complaints about how the 3DS sleep mode feature is working

@amyh7292: No problem! Glad you're enjoying the feature :)

*every 72 hours :D