![we were here together autosave we were here together autosave](https://freerangebrain.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/rosie-the-riveter.jpg)
If you hadn't saved in over two hours, and then you died, then you just lost that whole two hours of gameplay! it was pretty damned annoying and inconvenient, but if you lost two hours of progress because you didn't save, you wouldn't make that mistake again! So you may have to replay an hour or two of gameplay once, but then you're done with it and you move on. The game didn't just respawn you right where you left off. There was an actual consequence for dying. If you died, you had to go all the way back to the last save point (usually being kicked back out to the main menu to load from the memory card). Older survival horror games were also less forgiving when it comes to checkpointing the player. You didn't know how many ink ribbons the game would provide, and you had to weight the benefit of keeping some in your inventory versus the cost of possibly not being able to pick up that extra box of shotgun shells if your inventory filled up. Resident Evil took this one step further by making game saving a consumable resource that needed to be managed just like ammunition and healing supplies. Ink Ribbons were scattered throughout the game world and consumed whenever the player saved at a typewriter. In addition to being put in frightening circumstances and being challenged by scary creatures, the player had to deal with the stress of wondering when and where they'd find that next box of handgun bullets, or that next first aid kit so the character can stop limping around. Survival horror games traditionally required the player to carefully manage their resources and be very judicious with their use of supplies. Tying the ability to save to a consumable inventory item that was in limited supply was absolutely genius in the context of game in the " survival horror" genre. In order to save your game in Resident Evil, you first needed to find one of the many typewriters scattered throughout the mansion, and then you needed to consume an inventory item called an "ink ribbon" in order to actually perform the save. Resident Evil falls firmly in that last category, but with one significant (and game-changing) caveat: in addition to only being able to save at pre-defined locations, the ability to save was also tied to a consumable inventory item! Making saving part of the game This had the advantage of giving the player a visual reminder to save, but limited the ability to save and forced the player to backtrack if you wanted to save before reaching a new save point. Save points: many RPGs and action/adventure games such as Ico or Silent Hill required the player to activate a specific item located in the game world in order to save.Both Ico and Yorda must sit in order for a save to be permitted. Ico allows players to save by making the characters rest on these magic couches. Sometimes there would be restrictions, such as not being able to save when enemies are present, but this is generally the easiest save system from a player's standpoint. Pause menu saves: games like Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy VII (in the Overworld), and most sports games gave players the ability to save in the pause screen (or other menu).
![we were here together autosave we were here together autosave](https://beynond.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/2_0168.jpg)
This broke the game up into distinct segments and create natural stopping points. Level saves: games like Devil May Cry and many level / mission-based action games and arcade fighters required the player to complete a whole level or mission before being allowed to save.
![we were here together autosave we were here together autosave](https://wunderkindcollaborator.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/img_0457_resize.jpg)
I'm not sure if it was the first to use this particular style of system, but it was definitely one of the best implementations that I played!ĭuring the PSX era of the late 90's, game saves generally took one of 3 forms: Resident Evil took a unique path in terms of it's save-game system. Maybe some day, I'll get around to writing about how Resident Evil 4 killed my interest in the franchise. But I actually am a big fan of the original game (it was one of my favorite PlayStation games). Most of my readers know me as a Silent Hill fan, so it's uncommon for me to heap praise upon Resident Evil. What I can do, though, is take a moment to reflect on the genius of the classic Resident Evil save system. I haven't played the game yet because RE5 sucked, and the demo for RE6 sucked, so I can't comment on that game. I've heard that a lot of players are complaining about the save system of Capcom's new Resident Evil 6.