That.. just wasn’t a thing back then? Rpgs in the 80/90s usually gave you a game over screen and you had to redo whatever was lost. Guess it was just a part of the learning curve for those games.
It's actually been a thing since Ultima in the early 80s, and in terms of JRPGs it's always been in Dragon Quest as the other poster said, and also appeared in some other series like certain Megami Tensei games, the Earthbound trilogy, Pokémon, etc. If you go outside JRPGs Zelda also let you continue after death in every entry until I think Skyward Sword. FF6 also lets you keep EXP after death, but *only* EXP.
I'm as baffled as the other guy about why FF doesn't have this too. Since FFIV introduced save points, you would generally just lose everything you got over the last 10 minutes, so you have to re-get it, which is neither challenging nor interesting. It's not like a roguelike where you have a lot to lose, or a soulslike where you drop an important resource.
actually, Dragon Quest 1 - the first JRPG to come out, and pretty influential at the time (if not somewhat still) - already did what they are talking about (upon death it teleported you back to the starting castle with your health back, but you lost some of your money. later games changed this to teleport you to the last church (save point) you used instead), and it predates the entire FF series. so it actually is kinda baffling that FF never did anything like that
You'll find that the further back you go, the less forgiving games were in general.
At the time, I doubt games had the ability to autosave. The memory card or cartridge only had a limited amount of space. I think they just carried it over to maintain the "nostalgia" factor for us older people.
I think even the remakes had a similar problem. Most of them were GBA - DS level of quality. I can't be sure they weren't autosave-capable, just my two cents.
Pretty much this. There wasn't any technology on the Atari that saved progress. Arcade games would only save your high score. NES and Sega had long codes you entered in to return to the last level of your progress.
I believe SNES and Genesis finally added in a harddrive to save progress onto the cartridge from a save point within the game.
Modern day is save anytime and almost anywhere.
>Not sure if later games change it but the classic FF games and their remakes reset all your progress and experience if you lose even to a random monster, forcing you to start from your last save. Why aren't you given the option to just return to the last inn like many modern RPGs do?
Old rpgs don't do something new rpgs do because they don't have a time machine.
Many of these games, the source code and original graphic assets are lost. It wasn't common to keep them around with numerous backups in the 90s. A lot of remasters are just a rom packaged with an emulator.
Some changes at that point are doable, others would be very difficult if not impossible.
Games like Dragon Quest will teleport you quite a long distance with half of your gold lost, and in older entries, your party would remain dead. Not exactly a reward. Compare this with FF, where your last save point was probably quite close, and you lose nothing that you got before you saved, so you just have to repeat (probably beat-for-beat) the exact same things you did 5-10 minutes ago. It's less punishing and more tedious.
I don't think you could convince any Dark Souls fans that they're being rewarded or have it easy when the games respawn them at a campfire instead of reloading a save either.
They likely just thought it would be similar to DQ, right? You wake up at the church in DQ games. Pokemon games did the same from the start, too. Not a big deal, now OP knows it’s different.
For me when you die you don't retain experience...you're dead. Modern RPGs feel more like a reincarnation when holding onto you're experience. Call it a harsh reality of life and death back then. If you didn't plan ahead with items and saves than that was on you. You were an adventurer you should prepare as such.
I’m not sure how common it was in games across the board back then, but wiping and keeping a portion of exp upon being reviving has long been around. Notably, the DQ series (pretty sure from the start). But correct me if I’m wrong—I didn’t play the original version. Maybe it started in DQ2 or 3.
I can't comment on the DQ series myself. Just kind of how I take the dying and not retaining exp. I'm sure there were games that let you retain your exp.
Super Mario Brothers. You had to redo the level you were on. If you lost all your lives, game over.
Modern FF games like Remake and Rebirth um, they have game over screens and reset you back to your last save point. Modern games have progress points so you aren't doing something completely over.
Check Dragon Quest games, Lufia, Sukoden, and some classics from the 90s. Most if not all have a save point at an INN or town and not just a save that is close by. Yeah modern games have almost a save anywhere option now.
Game design has gravitated to making games less painful to play and apply some sort of convenience. Games were hardcore back in the day.
That.. just wasn’t a thing back then? Rpgs in the 80/90s usually gave you a game over screen and you had to redo whatever was lost. Guess it was just a part of the learning curve for those games.
It's actually been a thing since Ultima in the early 80s, and in terms of JRPGs it's always been in Dragon Quest as the other poster said, and also appeared in some other series like certain Megami Tensei games, the Earthbound trilogy, Pokémon, etc. If you go outside JRPGs Zelda also let you continue after death in every entry until I think Skyward Sword. FF6 also lets you keep EXP after death, but *only* EXP. I'm as baffled as the other guy about why FF doesn't have this too. Since FFIV introduced save points, you would generally just lose everything you got over the last 10 minutes, so you have to re-get it, which is neither challenging nor interesting. It's not like a roguelike where you have a lot to lose, or a soulslike where you drop an important resource.
actually, Dragon Quest 1 - the first JRPG to come out, and pretty influential at the time (if not somewhat still) - already did what they are talking about (upon death it teleported you back to the starting castle with your health back, but you lost some of your money. later games changed this to teleport you to the last church (save point) you used instead), and it predates the entire FF series. so it actually is kinda baffling that FF never did anything like that
You'll find that the further back you go, the less forgiving games were in general. At the time, I doubt games had the ability to autosave. The memory card or cartridge only had a limited amount of space. I think they just carried it over to maintain the "nostalgia" factor for us older people. I think even the remakes had a similar problem. Most of them were GBA - DS level of quality. I can't be sure they weren't autosave-capable, just my two cents.
Pretty much this. There wasn't any technology on the Atari that saved progress. Arcade games would only save your high score. NES and Sega had long codes you entered in to return to the last level of your progress. I believe SNES and Genesis finally added in a harddrive to save progress onto the cartridge from a save point within the game. Modern day is save anytime and almost anywhere.
Tjat's just how it was back then. There were no autosaves and if you died then you died.
>Not sure if later games change it but the classic FF games and their remakes reset all your progress and experience if you lose even to a random monster, forcing you to start from your last save. Why aren't you given the option to just return to the last inn like many modern RPGs do? Old rpgs don't do something new rpgs do because they don't have a time machine. Many of these games, the source code and original graphic assets are lost. It wasn't common to keep them around with numerous backups in the 90s. A lot of remasters are just a rom packaged with an emulator. Some changes at that point are doable, others would be very difficult if not impossible.
... Because why should they? You lost. Reload save and either find a safe grind or try again. The game shouldnt reward you for losing.
Games like Dragon Quest will teleport you quite a long distance with half of your gold lost, and in older entries, your party would remain dead. Not exactly a reward. Compare this with FF, where your last save point was probably quite close, and you lose nothing that you got before you saved, so you just have to repeat (probably beat-for-beat) the exact same things you did 5-10 minutes ago. It's less punishing and more tedious. I don't think you could convince any Dark Souls fans that they're being rewarded or have it easy when the games respawn them at a campfire instead of reloading a save either.
They likely just thought it would be similar to DQ, right? You wake up at the church in DQ games. Pokemon games did the same from the start, too. Not a big deal, now OP knows it’s different.
They explicitly say "modern RPGs".
Ah, okay! Thanks!
sending you to the last safe place is hardly rewarding you
That’s why I just use save states (for those older games).
For me when you die you don't retain experience...you're dead. Modern RPGs feel more like a reincarnation when holding onto you're experience. Call it a harsh reality of life and death back then. If you didn't plan ahead with items and saves than that was on you. You were an adventurer you should prepare as such.
I’m not sure how common it was in games across the board back then, but wiping and keeping a portion of exp upon being reviving has long been around. Notably, the DQ series (pretty sure from the start). But correct me if I’m wrong—I didn’t play the original version. Maybe it started in DQ2 or 3.
I can't comment on the DQ series myself. Just kind of how I take the dying and not retaining exp. I'm sure there were games that let you retain your exp.
Super Mario Brothers. You had to redo the level you were on. If you lost all your lives, game over. Modern FF games like Remake and Rebirth um, they have game over screens and reset you back to your last save point. Modern games have progress points so you aren't doing something completely over. Check Dragon Quest games, Lufia, Sukoden, and some classics from the 90s. Most if not all have a save point at an INN or town and not just a save that is close by. Yeah modern games have almost a save anywhere option now. Game design has gravitated to making games less painful to play and apply some sort of convenience. Games were hardcore back in the day.
"*Bank robbers should keep the money to buy better guns and escape vehicles when they get out of prison."*