PS4 Respite Glitches

While I'm not aiming to coin a new term here, it's a common enough occurrence that after years of the very interesting events that happened in-game, I kinda gave it a name and stubbornly stuck to it.

Respite glitching. In almost every occurrence, the phenomenon happens on action RPG type games (Skyrim, Dragon Age Inquisition, Assassin's Creed-- so not just itty-bitty unknowns of gaming) after repeatedly going into rest mode and waking the game again. Because the games all share epic possible game times in common, they were also more likely to be my focus for months at a time, but I think frequency seems to accelerate the issue more than time spent gaming. I imagine that something occurs, something residual in the game data, a sort of faulty bookmark that builds up and affects the game itself. Also because the fix involves simply closing out of the game's app entirely from the menu and simply loading the game again, it makes it clear that it's not an error in the game's coding but a little imp in the console's software itself.

I actually enjoy these random surprises. In Skyrim, I like the third person view where I see my character's body. When one respite glitch occurred, I would go through a door in a dungeon and my avatar wasn't there. I'd hear an odd jumbling of distant shuffling noises as I walked and eventually, I'd find my horrifically marionette-like avatar scrambling to glue itself back where it should be.

In Dragon Age Inquisition, the audio would cut out at first but if I let it go, the subtitles would eventually abandon ship too. I have quite a few little shared glitch videos from this game but this was the only one I could absolutely link to the respite glitch since respite glitches tend to creep up and get progressively worse if not wiped. I believe it also had a weird effect on the appearance of magic spells, pixelating or animating poorly.

Final Fantasy XV's magic spells were also affected in this way, but don't get me started on the shitty taste that game's shoddy story left in my mouth.

Either because I know so few people that push a game into rest mode as much as I do or most people I know constantly switch games, researching it didn't actually turn up anything particularly enlightening. It doesn't hurt the games or break them. Every time I notice the issue, there's plenty of functionality to save the game then close out to reload a perfectly functioning game. Sometimes, I go ahead and watch the issue get worse, like a snowball picking up the momentum of an avalanche, out of sheer curiosity.

I'd truly love to hear more stories from people that experience their own respite glitches. Which game and what happened? Let me know!