Whats up with these games with restricted saving?

[CaitSeith]

The penalty of having to repeat a long segment if you fail is an easy way to increase tension (it mechanically raises the stakes). I realized that with the Final Fantasy III DS remake. The final part is a really long segment with 2 dungeons, 5 boss battles before the final boss, and no save points in the way. Fortunately, the remake has quick-save (you can save in the dungeons, but loading erases the quick-save) so you can take a break (the original had no such luxury though). So the boss battles at the final dungeon were really tense because the stakes just kept getting higher after each victory.

FFIII also shows the downside of the system. The penalty of total loss is very punishing (Soulborne games at least lets you keep your items and give you the chance to recover your souls/blood echoes). A game not properly designed for such penalty (or just propense to crash at random times) is just an example of bad design.

I am enjoying Alien Isolation but man does this save system make the game more frustrating than it has to be for that same reason (you are required to go to certain rooms in order to save where they have these save points, there is no other way to save or if there is, the game has neglected to mention it).

I can get why game devs might think it's a good idea (Make death mean something or some other nonsense) but all it does is make me have to replay 20 minutes of a section because a Xenomorph showed up to turn me into a shish kabob.

I suppose when I was 12 this wasn't such a big deal when I had nothing better to do with my time but I no longer have the time or the patience to deal with this kind of thing now. I got shit to do game devs, stop wasting my time with this BS.

Alien: Isolation is one of my favorite survival horror games. Still, I affectionately nickname it "Alien: Frustration"

 

[tippy2k2]

I am enjoying Alien Isolation but man does this save system make the game more frustrating than it has to be for that same reason (you are required to go to certain rooms in order to save where they have these save points, there is no other way to save or if there is, the game has neglected to mention it).

I can get why game devs might think it's a good idea (Make death mean something or some other nonsense) but all it does is make me have to replay 20 minutes of a section because a Xenomorph showed up to turn me into a shish kabob.

I suppose when I was 12 this wasn't such a big deal when I had nothing better to do with my time but I no longer have the time or the patience to deal with this kind of thing now. I got shit to do game devs, stop wasting my time with this BS.

Alien: Isolation is one of my favorite survival horror games. Still, I affectionately nickname it "Alien: Frustration"

The problem is that it is quickly going from "Alien: Frustration" to "Alien: Fuck this shit I'm out".

There is a really good game in here but it's hard to stay excited when I've had to replay the same twenty minute section three times now because the Xenomorph is camping the damn door I need to go through and won't leave.

I'm sticking with the game for now but I don't know how many more times I can get killed and have to replay an entire damn section again before I just say I'm out and go play a game that doesn't waste my time.

EDIT: Yup, "Aliens: Fuck this shit I'm out" is in. I have replayed this same stupid section four God damn times now because the asshat looks at my locker, walks away, leaves the area, and then comes right back. I'm playing peekaboo with this fucker until it eventually gets bored and murders me. This is just tedious and boring and I wonder if everyone got a different game than I did because I do not see how this game is any good...

EDIT 2 ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: So I had the game on HARD cause it said you should play at that level. I flipped it to Normal and will give it another try...

 

[sXeth]

EDIT: Yup, "Aliens: Fuck this shit I'm out" is in. I have replayed this same stupid section four God damn times now because the asshat looks at my locker, walks away, leaves the area, and then comes right back. I'm playing peekaboo with this fucker until it eventually gets bored and murders me. This is just tedious and boring and I wonder if everyone got a different game than I did because I do not see how this game is any good...

EDIT 2 ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: So I had the game on HARD cause it said you should play at that level. I flipped it to Normal and will give it another try...

From what I could tell (and in the locker-survival genre I usually end up spending a good chunk at some point just eyeballing how nonsensical the NPCs act) it is more or less just an awful RNG type AI.

As to "Tedious and boring", well I'd have to join you on that one. I"d already started tuning out on these games when I saw the inevitable lockers (because multi-route stealth design is too hard apparently, so nonsensical plain sight camoflauge must exist), and that one way overstays its welcome by a long shot (And any tension goes out the window once you start watching the alien start having pathfinding misfires)

 

[CaitSeith]

I am enjoying Alien Isolation but man does this save system make the game more frustrating than it has to be for that same reason (you are required to go to certain rooms in order to save where they have these save points, there is no other way to save or if there is, the game has neglected to mention it).

I can get why game devs might think it's a good idea (Make death mean something or some other nonsense) but all it does is make me have to replay 20 minutes of a section because a Xenomorph showed up to turn me into a shish kabob.

I suppose when I was 12 this wasn't such a big deal when I had nothing better to do with my time but I no longer have the time or the patience to deal with this kind of thing now. I got shit to do game devs, stop wasting my time with this BS.

Alien: Isolation is one of my favorite survival horror games. Still, I affectionately nickname it "Alien: Frustration"

The problem is that it is quickly going from "Alien: Frustration" to "Alien: Fuck this shit I'm out".

There is a really good game in here but it's hard to stay excited when I've had to replay the same twenty minute section three times now because the Xenomorph is camping the damn door I need to go through and won't leave.

I'm sticking with the game for now but I don't know how many more times I can get killed and have to replay an entire damn section again before I just say I'm out and go play a game that doesn't waste my time.

EDIT: Yup, "Aliens: Fuck this shit I'm out" is in. I have replayed this same stupid section four God damn times now because the asshat looks at my locker, walks away, leaves the area, and then comes right back. I'm playing peekaboo with this fucker until it eventually gets bored and murders me. This is just tedious and boring and I wonder if everyone got a different game than I did because I do not see how this game is any good...

EDIT 2 ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: So I had the game on HARD cause it said you should play at that level. I flipped it to Normal and will give it another try...

That's why once you get the flamethrower, the game gets so much more manageable.