Originally posted by: ricarleite
This Save Anywhere thing would make games too easy. Save every five seconds, made a mistake? Just load it back. No challenge at all.

There is a massive difference between a challenge and a frustration. Is Half-Life no challenge at all? Sure, it wasn't the hardest game in the world, but it was still a challenge and you could save anywhere you wanted. This applies to pretty much any game. No matter where you save it, a game is not truly difficult unless you have to use your skills to beat it. Save points are a crutch - for developers who can't or can't be bothered to develop effective AI or to come up with interesting puzzles or obstacles. If I save my game just before I am attacked by a dinosaur, I still have to kill the dinosaur to progress through the game. And I should have to use my skills at the game to defeat it - in which case saving the game would have absolutely nothing to do with it. If I save my game in the middle of trying to work out a puzzle in an adventure game, it doesn't bring me any closer to working it out - I *still* have to use my head.