FF1-FF3: No save points. You can only save on the world map or at an inn. It’s a little inconvenient sometimes, but makes a good challenge. This also establishes the whole sleep/save relationship, complete with tents and everything.
FF4: Areas where a “mysterious force” keeps monsters away, allowing you to sleep (and save). One of the best ways to handle save points, in my opinion. Give them an explanation that makes sense in the world of the game.
FF5: Same as 4, I think. Don’t remember.
FF6-FF8: There’s little to no game-world explanation for these. They’re just there. I like this too, because you can ignore them for story purposes, although the ones in 7 and 8 are kinda hard not to notice.
FF9: Moogles. Gotta love them, even if they don’t explain what exactly they’re writing in those books or why you can only use a tent when they’re around.
FF10: “Save Spheres,” apparently some kind of machina, designed to save games, heal HP and MP, and beam you up to the airship or to the blitzball stadium.
I really hate these. They take away most of the challenge of conserving MP and recovery items, not to mention making the few inns in the game (and any other form of sleep) completely useless. There’s also no real explanation for them, even though they clearly exist within the game world.
If you want explanations for save points, try Chrono Cross or Xenogears. Those are the only games that really delve into that kind of thing (CC especially).
As far as the NES ones are concerned I would think the reason there were only save points on the world map had something to do with how the NES works and not being able to set up such points in the game feasible.
Originally posted by Xelopheris Considering that the idea of the save point breaks the fourth wall, there shouldn’t really be much of an explanation to them.
Right. Any breaking of the fourth wall should be either subtle enough to completely ignore or at least reasonably explained within the game world. What bothers me is when there’s only a partial explanation, too much to be ignored, but not enough to make sense without admitting it’s a game (as in 10).
I liked 10’s save points. It meant that you could really just go full-out every battle, and not have to keep your better moves in reserve all the time.
VII’s were introduced as more of a comedy feature with that first tutorial which in my opinion was a pretty interesting way of doing it. I liked the strategy of the ‘create your own save point’ in the Northern Crater, too.
Overall, though, I liked IX’s the best. Just like Resident Evil with the typewriter and Silent Hill 1 with the notepad - save points record the game so far, so why not have them a journal-style concept? Plus, moogles are just too cute XD
Doesn’t explain why the tents could only be used via moogle, but the tents in IX did have a red pom-pom on top maybe the moogles expand into tents?
Frankly, the idea of setting up a tent in a moggle’s fundament is quite disturbing to me But yeah, I can see how it reduced the challenge in X and X-2… very handy if you want to level up quickly, though- and don’t forget, there is quite a lot of track going between save points in those games, so that unless you devote a lot of time to levelling up, the challenge is still there.
Yeah, but inns never really costed that much anyway. The most expensive inn I can remember, is the one in the Empire town (FF6). And that was only 1000 gil. So money is not really an issue, especially since you get quite a bit from battles in most of them.
I thought X’s inns were lame because you could just hang out and do your own thing by a save point, so when you get beaten damn near to a bloody pulp, you can walk back and feel refreshed and ready for the day. It kinda made inns obsolete to boot…but I guess you could say the Blitzball sidegame evened it out (if you weren’t interested in the sidegame to begin with). :runaway:
I remember being fascinated with the explanation of save points in Xenogears, but I don’t remember what it was. I think the sole point of save points in XG was to track Fei and co. but I don’t remember…
Back in my day, if you wanted to see next spring, you had to plan ahead and manage your supplies. Now-a-days, all you have to do is make a bee-line for a sphere. I liked X, but they made things SO easy for you. It seems like they’re catering to little kids instead of challenging the seasoned veterans.
X really tried to make it a cake walk. Save spheres healed you completely, and you didn’t have to worry about a status effects, because they were gone the minute you ended a battle. That makes sense for some stuff, but not the nasty ones, like poison.
But I digress, the save points in the games leading to ten varied on coolness. I started on four, and thought that the explaination was cool. The newer games (6,7,8) didn’t really address them, so it wasn’t a big deal. I loved IX’s saves because Moogles are awesome, and I’d do anything for them…ANYTHING.
Anyway, kids got it too easy these days.
And for eariler games, I agree with Xelopheris and Resh, they were there because they had to be. For the games where they did explain saves, it should have been either like IX where it’s a minor things that makes sense or like Crono Cross where they explained it fully.
[QUOTE=Pookie]
Anyway, kids got it too easy these days.
QUOTE]
You crazy old fart.
I think X’s actually were explained somewhat. I took it that the save spheres were kind of like the movie spheres you could collect but only instead of Braska’s adventures, the save spheres were recording Tidus and co.'s adventure. That’s my take on X’s anyway. I really liked IX’s save system though. :moogle:
Despite the save spheres, I thought FFX was pretty challenging. Individual battles tended to be harder (at least once you got to a certain point in the game). And if you want more challenge, go ahead and try the Monster Arena. >-)
Anyway, interesting topic. I assume in most games, Saving points are NOT there- they’re just points in the story in which you can save. Some in-game explanations, like keeping a diary, are OK, others are silly. They’re not really needed, tho. (And personally, I want to be able to save ANYTIME I want. C’mon, the tech for doing that is available now for most games, no?)
Now, the SPs that HEAL you- now that’s a story problem. How to explain that you just waded thru the Boss’ entire army, then are suddenly refreshed to take on HIM?
(If someone or something shows up to heal you before a battle, that’s different.)
I really prefer recovering at inns (or by camping.) This represents SEVERAL hours of recovery. It might mean you’ll need several trips to level up so you can take down a particularly hard dungeon, but that’s realistic.
This leads us to another, related topic: The passage of time in RPGs. How do you people prefer it? The usual “leave a room, and all the monsters are back” kind, or the ones that actually keep track of time (like FF Tactics, or Pokemon?)
Personally, I feel time should not be kept track of, except in challenges such as get-out-of-the-dungeon-before-it-collapses. I DO like those dungeons where you can kill all the monsters and they do NOT respawn (unless you step out of the dungeon) -makes them easier to explore. Also, I like the idea that, every time you go to sleep, a day passes, in order to activate sidequests and such.
I actually don’t like the time stuff, because I’m the kind of guy who likes to collect everything with a minimum of fuss, and having to wait around for the right time of day on the right day is really annoying for me.
And I think you meant “resent”, not “resemble”. 8p
On a side note, I hated the fact that in Xenosaga, if you left a room, all the monsters would be back - especially since there was frequently no indication if you were about to leave a room or if you were going to stay in the same room and pass through a doorway or a barrier.
I like the way the original Zelda took care of it, which is that you have about 3 rooms’ leeway to explore, and if you venture farther than that, the enemies would be back.
which in my opinion was a pretty interesting way of doing it. I liked the strategy of the ‘create your own save point’ in the Northern Crater, too.