What or where is your favourite save point in video games?

[Scarim Coral]

Disclaimer- YES I know the majority of video games used saving as a function. I'm talking about those designated save points in some video games.

You know how some games designed a specific place/ spot/ location or room etc to actually saved your progress in the game but they sometime add a twist or have a little fun with it. I find it a rare gem of a game that actually have a quirkly little save points/ room. I mean I always like the idea that when I doing something outside of gaming, my game character is in a specific spot (the save point) as if he or she is resting or chilling out before I return to continue the game.

Any of yous have a specific save point you think of fondly in a video game?

As for me (all time favourite)-

Spoiler: No More Heroes

I just find this both hilarious and relatable (NOT me, just my bro take his sweet ass time in the toliet) and it's nice to know he is taking potty break in a video game. Do video games character do not have a bladder???

My bro favourite save point (the inspiration for this thread)-

Spoiler: Ico

Again he too like the idea that the two characters are just chilling on a couch while he is away from the game.

Runner ups-

Spoiler: Resident Evil 1

It's mainly for the save point theme tune. I just find it haunting and yet relaxing. Granted I always find it odd that the save point function is using an ink and typewritter. Are they typing out their experience into the type writer? I mean they were kinda random like in one of them was in a cavern and there was a box with a type writer on it.
As for the favourite spot, it was in the mansion in one of the rooms. There was a bed in it. Nice to know they can take a nap that is if their paranoia keep them awake incase a zombie break into the door if they were sleeping!

Spoiler: Metriod Prime

Again another odd one since it is a repair station. I mean they are conviently places on a planet including the pirate base?! Also I wouldn't called it relaxing as she is standing up while being repair. Still it has a kickass short tune when you loaded up your save file!

Monster Hunter- It's your house and you saved by sleeping on the bed. Nothing can get simplier than that!

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I like the little shrines in Kuon. They're spread throughout this old creepy Japanese mansion, usually by the river that winds across the garden. Saving the game takes up a little ceremony of setting a small origami totem adrift down the river (you play as a priestess). It's a nice moment of respite, akin to the classic Resident Evil save room.

Later in the game there's a nice twist of so-called "background storytelling" involving the save system...

Spoiler

You reach a hellish underground and see all the cute little origami props have piled up in a pool of blood. You've been sending all of your pleas for divine help quite literally to hell.

 

[Silvanus]

Ico and Resident Evil are good calls.


My friend, who has played Castlevania: Symphony of the Night so much he can recognise where somebody is in the castle from the other room, from monster sounds alone, found out something about the save points in that game recently: the heart-beat effect pulses with differing frequency depending on your health.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I really loved the Moogles in Final Fantasy IX. I can see them working in the plot in a way (I imagine Steiner complaining loudly to a Moogle who writes down the story so far), but there's also a side quest connected with them. I don't remember the end-game for it but each Moogle has a name and letters for other Moogles. It's a small thing but I found it to be really charming.

 

[Ambient_Malice]

The Evil Within.

Spoiler

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

I have a soft spot for save points that are somewhat justified in existing, whether or not it "explains" saving.

Like the typewriter in Resident evil (typing up reports so people who come after can see what you've done), or the bathrooms in No More Heroes, or how in Shadow of the Colossus you wake up having slept at waypoint shrines. Having a character just go "oh hey, don't forget to SAVE YOUR GAME at this SAVE POINT" while gesturing at this weird glowy circle that serves no purpose to the characters kinda breaks immersion most of the time.

I try to integrate my save points in my own RPGs (as well as allowing the option to save everywhere, since a lot of people hate relying on save points in general).

I use "will-o-wisps" that can warn of approaching danger, or note safe places to rest. While to the player, they're "save points", the characters are looking to them for guidance to find places to rest peacefully, or as warnings of danger to come. It also gives the save points a purpose even when the player can save anywhere, as they can warn of upcoming boss fights.

I like the little shrines in Kuon. They're spread throughout this old creepy Japanese mansion, usually by the river that winds across the garden. Saving the game takes up a little ceremony of setting a small origami totem adrift down the river (you play as a priestess). It's a nice moment of respite, akin to the classic Resident Evil save room.

Later in the game there's a nice twist of so-called "background storytelling" involving the save system...

Spoiler

You reach a hellish underground and see all the cute little origami props have piled up in a pool of blood. You've been sending all of your pleas for divine help quite literally to hell.

Oh. My. GOD. That's absolutely AMAZING and I love it! Perfect narrative justification and perfect twist too!

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

I like one of the save points in Crono Trigger.

The one where you're sneaking around in the future and thinking to yourself "neat, I could really use a save here."

Then it makes the "save point" chime, which tips off the monsters and they ambush you.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I like the little shrines in Kuon. They're spread throughout this old creepy Japanese mansion, usually by the river that winds across the garden. Saving the game takes up a little ceremony of setting a small origami totem adrift down the river (you play as a priestess). It's a nice moment of respite, akin to the classic Resident Evil save room.

Later in the game there's a nice twist of so-called "background storytelling" involving the save system...

Spoiler

You reach a hellish underground and see all the cute little origami props have piled up in a pool of blood. You've been sending all of your pleas for divine help quite literally to hell.

Oh. My. GOD. That's absolutely AMAZING and I love it! Perfect narrative justification and perfect twist too!

I know right? After having grown accustomed to all the ghouls the game throws at you, I was absolutely mortified by this stark background detail. It's the game's backhanded way of going "You've had zero agency on your fate all this time, and also this is how fucked you are at this point".

 

[RedRockRun]

In Bloodborne, the Nightmare of Mensis has some of the best lamp locations. That level also has some of the best design too, so much stacked vertically and fit together to create an extensive collection of environments and challenges. Yet when it feels as though you've been travelling for miles, it turns out that just one elevator ride separates you from a lamp, so safety is never too far from sight, and death doesn't come with any grueling backtracking.

 

[Fox12]

Wow, those are some great examples.

Something about bonfires always appealed to me. Obviously there's the imagery of your character huddling up for warmth, and resting. Presumably they're taking a break, or sleeping. It's particularly poignant in Dark Souls, where the heat, and the life force, is about to go out. Entropy is about to take hold, and the world will end. It's just this small little spark of fire that's warding off the cold, and the horrors that lie just outside its periphery. And it's going out. The Crestfallen merchant even chides you for resting there. "Catch a scare? It's safe here. We'll both be hollows before you know it!" It's the stuff nightmares are made of.

Spoiler

Another game, called Fragile Dreams, uses similar imagery. It's quite emotionally provocative. It's a post a post apocalyptic JRPG, with some truly gorgeous imagery.

Spoiler

 

[FPLOON]

The Moment's Reprieve and Conqueror's Respite save point in [the GBA version of] Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories... I just like how it's shaped just like the picture in this card:

Spoiler: Fun Fact: Even when in the PS2 remake changed the save points to the ones in KH2, the card still stayed the same...

http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/kingdomhearts/images/5/58/Moment's_Reprieve_(card).png/revision/latest?cb=20100317152200

Other than that, I love all of the mana circle save points in the Tales of Symphonia:

Spoiler: Look at it spin!

http://33.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdaqydnyE21ribzx2o1_250.gif

I just love passing over it as it glows brighter... it makes its signature chime... and refuses to automatically heal up your entire party! YAY~!!

 

[Sefa Lagaaia]

Dark souls whenever there was a bonfire just prior to a boss battle, that always made me happy, like the Rat King or The Rotten, that was always a welcome relief that I could jump right back in and get murdered all over again (less so with Rat King, that wasn't too difficult)