Mokkan, I've been told this, but that game tortured me -- I don't think I can forgive it.

This gave me a wonderful idea: I want to make a really simple game (pacman, tetris, arkanoid, something like this) where every five minutes or so, something really dramatic happens via cutscene -- something completely unrelated to the actual game. Yes, purple hampsters invading the world... Yes, the sun going super nova... yes, the main characters mother just got murdered by mother fucking satan.

Wow, I'd play that.

I loved that game except for the horrible system where you essentially get punished for leveling your troops. Having to do skirmishes just to get everyone to the same level before proceeding to the next battle was lame.

I find that is essential for longer cutscenes. Last night I bought Super Paper Mario and eagerly started playing it. After a very satisfying (and lengthy) intro cutscene I eagerly began playing. I believe the first question you answer is something along the lines of "Will you save the world!!1?". Being the cheeky and funny guy I am I said "Nah". It asked two more times and I refused each time... after which I got a game over

I didn't mind the fact that I got a game over as I was pseudo expecting it, but what I was peeved about was that I HAD to go through the entire openening cutscene again. The first time was enough (it's fairly lengthy remember) I rushed the dialog as much as possible fervently pushing the button to make the text instantly appear and it still seemed to take a horrendously long time...

The game itself is still great though

I've seen videos of the cut scenes from the new Contra. For some - reason - they talk - with - long - pauses - between - their - words - like - it's - a - language - learning - course.

By main menu, are we talking about the title screen? If so, that's the most useless feature in a game ever. It's like saying: "Don't wanna watch the cutscene? Just stop playing!"

I laughed out loud (abbreviation style, dawg!).

That is a hardcore bonus. Casual gamers allow you to save anytime with a quicksave function (like the one implemented in most, if not all, handheld games).

No, it's like saying "if you want to switch to another saved game during an FMV sequence you don't have to wait for the FMV sequence to end nor do you have to approach your console and wait for it to reboot. You can just exit the FMV sequence."

It can be frustrating, but it's part of the gameplay in FF. If you could save ANYWHERE it would be too easy to save after every battle and never really risk anything. Instead you need to plan your route better to find save points along the way and gauge battles.

Speaking of which, last night I lost ~2 hours worth of leveling up because of a stupid mistake... I was on my way back to a save point, killing monsters the whole way to gain more EXP/LP. There happened to be a T-Rex and for some reason I was SURE I had fought it before earlier in the game (I had just started playing the day before yesterday). I had convinced myself that the T-Rex's were surprisingly really weak (contrary to their large physical size) and decided to kill it on my way, expecting an effortless battle. About the time my initial slash did 0 hp damage I realized ":o NO!!!!!!" The T-Rex changed from "you're not bothering me so I won't bother you" to "I'm gonna kill you! " In one hit it did more than enough damage to kill me. Game over.

I don't mind though. It's part of what makes FF series what it is. It's not supposed to be too easy. Some games, like FPSs, benefit from being able to save anywhere, but other games use saving as another element of the gameplay. Last night I learned not to mess with the T-Rexs yet.

I still recall defeating a T-Rex... I can't explain it. Maybe I'm crazy. I might have fabricated the whole thing...

Depends on wether you're running it with an emulator or not

I have to say its quite stupid to treat bad design and lame tricks like those, used to increase longevity* as a "bonus".
*-I accept that in earlier consoles they were more of a necessity, but there's no excuse for that on a PC. (or any console with a built-in HD)

EDIT:

No one is forcing you to abuse saving to void the game of risk. However you are forced to use a crappy saving schematic in those other games.

If you feel like leaving your computer on for the night. And assuming it won't crash meanwhile (happens occasionaly. As well as a blown fuse or other interruption of electricity).

Well. No you can't. Especially when it takes a lot of time to reach the next save point, or the previous one. (Have you tried Overlord? You either have to go all the way to the next save point, go to the previous one and replay everything from there again, or quit and also suffer penalties.)

Either way, I should be allowed to quit whenever I want - how about if I'm bored and want to play something else? Maybe that was a really tiring boss battle and I just want to take a short rest and browse some forums a bit? What if I just don't feel like playing anymore?
Heck! What if I feel like switching to <Notepad equivilant> and write down my experiences in the game? Maybe I found something really cool and I have to talk about it right now? Maybe I want to fire up some sort of <Fraps equivilant> to record the next scene?

And even if you want some sort of restrictive save system, why not just allow exactly one save and overwrite it everytime you save? That almost completely annihilates "save scumming".
Take a look at "Warlords: Battlecry"'s saving system, it provides no lenience for save abuse, but still allows to save and quit whenever you just don't want to (or can't) play anymore.

Never seen that. Where did you see that?

This is still a problem for all the same reasons before, except you have a few more saves before you run into those problems. (Which admitedly, alleviates them a bit)

True.
Then again you should also remember not to piss off players with a poor save system, or by forcing them into playing the game. (Unless of course its a game designed to piss off people. Though I don't see why you would want to make a game like that)

I'm going from memory here... but I remember doing that on Ogre Battle 64 as well as Tactics Ogre. There were several games I played from the PS1 era that I can't quite remember right now. I also seem to recall a few Dreamcast titles like Illbleed and Evolution offering a 'suspend' option.

Honestly, it hasn't been utilized nearly enough.

Heh, I remember that. Those bastards were seriously dangerous! That was a great area for grinding. Tons of EXP, MP, and item drops.

What I really hate is games that let you save anywhere, but then start you back in the last city you where in. cough Dungeon Siege II cough. That's one of the reasons I didn't finish that game.