The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
I hate games that don't allow you to save whenever you like because say if you're not very good at games and you're new to the whole thing, you'll have to go through the same level over and over again. This leaves you bored of the game, and probably make you return it. On the other hand, it does help you get better at the game, but in a very frustrating way.
When Tomb Raider was popular I thought it was good. The only thing was that you had to find saves in the game, which at times was very hard. You could be right next to a save point then some tiger comes out and kills you, or you accidentally fall off some cliff making you start the level all over again or from your last save-point, which could be anywhere.
Still, there's always the occassional cautious gamer who would want to save at every corner, just to be safe. This is the thing with games that do let you save whenever you like, you totally take advantage and soon it becomes very annoying, but still, the freedom to save whenever and wherever you like is great!
When playing Max Payne I always saved after the hard part in the game just in case I was hit unexpectedly then I'll have to start again. I saved and saved and saved, until too much memory was taken up and my save counts were unbelievable. So instead, I played with more caution and saved only after hard bits, so if Payne did die unexpectedly I can start after the difficult part. It's very annoying when you go through a massive, hard battle with a boss for example and you just make it, then for some reason you forget to save and some weak enemy kills you because of your life result after the fight. You have to start all over again with not much chance of completing that task again, and if you do you usually come out nearly drowning with sweat.
In Onimusha it was all well layed out. When you come to fight a boss there's a save-point around that area letting you save before fighting the boss. Then when you've defeated him, you can come back out and save again. This is the perfect sort of save, that I think all action/adventure games should include. It balances out the two "save whenever you like" and "save at certain points" options just perfectly, after all, most of us save to be cautious, especially after going through arduous situations often by luck - and you don't normally get lucky twice.
Games, especially adventure games, would be pointless if they couldn't save. We do have saves, but some game saves let you save whenever you like, while others put save points in basically No Man's Land. Games should already have save-points set in exactly the right place, like after fighting a boss or passing a hard situation or else the game soon gets too repetitive, forcing you to give up and turn off your format.
Do you agree?
When Tomb Raider was popular I thought it was good. The only thing was that you had to find saves in the game, which at times was very hard. You could be right next to a save point then some tiger comes out and kills you, or you accidentally fall off some cliff making you start the level all over again or from your last save-point, which could be anywhere.
Still, there's always the occassional cautious gamer who would want to save at every corner, just to be safe. This is the thing with games that do let you save whenever you like, you totally take advantage and soon it becomes very annoying, but still, the freedom to save whenever and wherever you like is great!
When playing Max Payne I always saved after the hard part in the game just in case I was hit unexpectedly then I'll have to start again. I saved and saved and saved, until too much memory was taken up and my save counts were unbelievable. So instead, I played with more caution and saved only after hard bits, so if Payne did die unexpectedly I can start after the difficult part. It's very annoying when you go through a massive, hard battle with a boss for example and you just make it, then for some reason you forget to save and some weak enemy kills you because of your life result after the fight. You have to start all over again with not much chance of completing that task again, and if you do you usually come out nearly drowning with sweat.
In Onimusha it was all well layed out. When you come to fight a boss there's a save-point around that area letting you save before fighting the boss. Then when you've defeated him, you can come back out and save again. This is the perfect sort of save, that I think all action/adventure games should include. It balances out the two "save whenever you like" and "save at certain points" options just perfectly, after all, most of us save to be cautious, especially after going through arduous situations often by luck - and you don't normally get lucky twice.
Games, especially adventure games, would be pointless if they couldn't save. We do have saves, but some game saves let you save whenever you like, while others put save points in basically No Man's Land. Games should already have save-points set in exactly the right place, like after fighting a boss or passing a hard situation or else the game soon gets too repetitive, forcing you to give up and turn off your format.
Do you agree?
Personally, I don't think you should be able to save anywhere... although it does depend on the game...
In most games, the ability to save anywhere tends to make people want to save just before a crucial event in the game (eg, a big gun fight), therefore allowing them to replay the game if they fail. However, the problem is that this reduces the whole atmosphere of the game. The point is that you are meant to be on edge... all that's happened in the game since you last saved is pinned on this one important moment.
If you can simply reply this moment again and again then you have wasted the game- the emotional strain of it all has gone. To giev an example, imagine GTA3 with saving anywhere. You could save halfway through a mission, then replay the second half until you get it right... the tension created in the first half of the mission dissapears.
Having said that, there are some games where saving anywhere may be needed... most specifically large games, such as RPGs (eg Zelda OTT). Clearly you may have a huge dungeon to escape from, and it would be impossible to do this in one session of gaming. It would also be near impossible to judge where to put "save points"- after all, the whole genre is getting to the point of non-linearity in which gamers can take different routes through tasks. Indeed, they may even do tasks in different orders.
So, overall gamers should not be allowed the comfort of knowing that their actions no longer matter- they get the "infinite continue" situation. Of course, there are exception to every rule...
Sonic
In most games, the ability to save anywhere tends to make people want to save just before a crucial event in the game (eg, a big gun fight), therefore allowing them to replay the game if they fail. However, the problem is that this reduces the whole atmosphere of the game. The point is that you are meant to be on edge... all that's happened in the game since you last saved is pinned on this one important moment.
If you can simply reply this moment again and again then you have wasted the game- the emotional strain of it all has gone. To giev an example, imagine GTA3 with saving anywhere. You could save halfway through a mission, then replay the second half until you get it right... the tension created in the first half of the mission dissapears.
Having said that, there are some games where saving anywhere may be needed... most specifically large games, such as RPGs (eg Zelda OTT). Clearly you may have a huge dungeon to escape from, and it would be impossible to do this in one session of gaming. It would also be near impossible to judge where to put "save points"- after all, the whole genre is getting to the point of non-linearity in which gamers can take different routes through tasks. Indeed, they may even do tasks in different orders.
So, overall gamers should not be allowed the comfort of knowing that their actions no longer matter- they get the "infinite continue" situation. Of course, there are exception to every rule...
Sonic
eeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrr... ... ... yes!
I hate games that don't allow you to save whenever you like because say if you're not very good at games and you're new to the whole thing, you'll have to go through the same level over and over again. This leaves you bored of the game, and probably make you return it. On the other hand, it does help you get better at the game, but in a very frustrating way.
When Tomb Raider was popular I thought it was good. The only thing was that you had to find saves in the game, which at times was very hard. You could be right next to a save point then some tiger comes out and kills you, or you accidentally fall off some cliff making you start the level all over again or from your last save-point, which could be anywhere.
Still, there's always the occassional cautious gamer who would want to save at every corner, just to be safe. This is the thing with games that do let you save whenever you like, you totally take advantage and soon it becomes very annoying, but still, the freedom to save whenever and wherever you like is great!
When playing Max Payne I always saved after the hard part in the game just in case I was hit unexpectedly then I'll have to start again. I saved and saved and saved, until too much memory was taken up and my save counts were unbelievable. So instead, I played with more caution and saved only after hard bits, so if Payne did die unexpectedly I can start after the difficult part. It's very annoying when you go through a massive, hard battle with a boss for example and you just make it, then for some reason you forget to save and some weak enemy kills you because of your life result after the fight. You have to start all over again with not much chance of completing that task again, and if you do you usually come out nearly drowning with sweat.
In Onimusha it was all well layed out. When you come to fight a boss there's a save-point around that area letting you save before fighting the boss. Then when you've defeated him, you can come back out and save again. This is the perfect sort of save, that I think all action/adventure games should include. It balances out the two "save whenever you like" and "save at certain points" options just perfectly, after all, most of us save to be cautious, especially after going through arduous situations often by luck - and you don't normally get lucky twice.
Games, especially adventure games, would be pointless if they couldn't save. We do have saves, but some game saves let you save whenever you like, while others put save points in basically No Man's Land. Games should already have save-points set in exactly the right place, like after fighting a boss or passing a hard situation or else the game soon gets too repetitive, forcing you to give up and turn off your format.
Do you agree?
When Tomb Raider was popular I thought it was good. The only thing was that you had to find saves in the game, which at times was very hard. You could be right next to a save point then some tiger comes out and kills you, or you accidentally fall off some cliff making you start the level all over again or from your last save-point, which could be anywhere.
Still, there's always the occassional cautious gamer who would want to save at every corner, just to be safe. This is the thing with games that do let you save whenever you like, you totally take advantage and soon it becomes very annoying, but still, the freedom to save whenever and wherever you like is great!
When playing Max Payne I always saved after the hard part in the game just in case I was hit unexpectedly then I'll have to start again. I saved and saved and saved, until too much memory was taken up and my save counts were unbelievable. So instead, I played with more caution and saved only after hard bits, so if Payne did die unexpectedly I can start after the difficult part. It's very annoying when you go through a massive, hard battle with a boss for example and you just make it, then for some reason you forget to save and some weak enemy kills you because of your life result after the fight. You have to start all over again with not much chance of completing that task again, and if you do you usually come out nearly drowning with sweat.
In Onimusha it was all well layed out. When you come to fight a boss there's a save-point around that area letting you save before fighting the boss. Then when you've defeated him, you can come back out and save again. This is the perfect sort of save, that I think all action/adventure games should include. It balances out the two "save whenever you like" and "save at certain points" options just perfectly, after all, most of us save to be cautious, especially after going through arduous situations often by luck - and you don't normally get lucky twice.
Games, especially adventure games, would be pointless if they couldn't save. We do have saves, but some game saves let you save whenever you like, while others put save points in basically No Man's Land. Games should already have save-points set in exactly the right place, like after fighting a boss or passing a hard situation or else the game soon gets too repetitive, forcing you to give up and turn off your format.
Do you agree?