Same I think. I at least was back outside after having to close the pc midway through cleaning out some cellars. :-(

It's the same in all Saints Row games, on all platforms. In SR3 and SR4 it even warns you that this is the case when saving within a mission.

Thanks for your answers. It makes me feel regret though for my decision to buy the series. This kind of having to do a whole thing in one stretch and starting from the beginning if you don't manage to get through in one go, is a thing I passionately dislike in games. I'll tag the Saints Row series as 'aborted' in my library (a tag I use for games I don't want to play no more).

A question about a non-GOG game that's similar in theme though: do the Grand Theft Auto IV (I got it on PS3) saves function in the same way as in the Saints Row series?

It is frustrating in some SR2 missions, but don't let that cloud your impression of the game. The gameplay and story more than compensate for that.

I don't get the gripe about the SR 2 missions. They have checkpoints. Playing it right now, just took out my 2nd gang, moving on to the 3rd, and I get killed A LOT during missions but the checkpoint makes it a hell of a lot nicer than GTA which has none.

Wait, wait wait... Don't give up so quickly! I'm afraid you would rather regret not to play these excellent games!

It is not that serious, really. It is true that in SR3 and SR4 you have to play each mission in one stretch. But this is only the case when you want to quit the game and continue playing later. If you DIE in a mission, you usually do NOT have to start the mission from the very beginning because there are checkpoints within the mission, at least the longer ones. I think I never had to replay more than 2 or 3 minutes.

It is really not comparable with GTA 3 (sorry, I don't know about GTA 4) where you have no checkpoints at all and cannot even start at the beginning of a mission when you fail. When you die in GTA 3, you are thrown out of the mission and have to go all the way back to the mission giver, then to the actual location of the mission, finish the mission and then maybe even go back to the mission giver to pick up a reward. That made me quit GTA 3 after a while. If you die and it takes almost 10 minutes to get the next try and you may get killed within seconds again, that is really off-putting.

Thanks for your effort to get me to like the game, but what I quote here is exactly the way I play a game: if I die, I often quit the game to continue later, if at that moment I lack the energy and courage to figure out how to proceed and not die. Or if a new situation arises, I often take a pause, save the game and continue later. New situations, new encounters, a new way to die, take time to get used to (I have autistic spectrum disorder) and often I'd rather save the game and try again later, when I have more energy and courage. And if I do that, it's very off-putting to have to work my way through everything I've done already to get to the point where that new situation arose which I want to take on.

It's the giveaway for Saints Row 2 that triggered me to try it out on the PS3 for a dollar and the sales prices for SR 3 and 4 (and getting Gat out of Hell as a Piñata) that made me complete the series in my library, but it's more out of a curiosity what the game was I got for free and I got a compulsiveness to get the whole series if I have a part of it, that made me get the Saints Row games (and GTA IV because it was in a bargain bin and it's such a popular game). But I don't really feel like playing a gang member. It's a role I find it hard to imagine, what's it like to be a criminal and it's not something I like to do in a game: I want to be a hero who saves the world, not someone who breaks the law for his own 'good'. My curiosity about the game is satisfied, I know it's a kind of gameplay I don't like and I call it quits.

I can understand that. It's still a pity to miss out on these great games. Maybe just a few more remarks for encouragement:

- Strictly speaking you indeed play a gang member, a criminal. But in contrast to GTA the Saints Row games do not take themselves too seriously and are rather funny, hilarious and over-the-top.
- The missions are rather short and episodic. It's not like walking through large dungeons for an hour without being able to save. Maybe you have to enter a building and kill all the enemies (5 minutes), then you leave in your car and are pursued by another enemy (5 minutes), then something totally different happens (5 minutes) and then the mission is over. Done, it is saved and you can quit the game. The single missions are not lengthy or long-winded at all, they are composed of many little episodes. I can hardly imagine quitting in the middle of it.
- SR3 and SR4 not only have missions, but also lots of different mini games which you could try to get at least a bit of fun out of your purchased games rather than completely putting them aside.

You might try out SR3. No matter the deep customization and alive world: The SR2 boss, for lack of better words, is an evil dick.

The boss persona got a few tweaks in SR3 and you also have a few choices (do the right thing or do the sociopath thing). SR3&4 is more embracing of the wackiness and leaves the more sinister stuff out. The gameplay is far less punishing so missions are far quicker done. Character progress is always saved which is what essentially counts.