The Save Rooms

About to shoot the shit about safe areas in the Resident Evil series. Stay awhile and listen…


Oops, wrong game.

Same energy though, you know? I was sitting down to attempt to Frankenstein my thoughts together involving the Resident Evil 3 remake, and figured it would be appropriate to catch a breather, so to speak, in the spirit of the energy the save rooms of Resident Evil fame have to offer, and the magic imbued within. Obviously, other games have similar moments of respite, the encampment from Diablo 2’s first area springs to mind, and even something like Mario 64’s Castle act as moments of relief amidst the chaos that ensues when exploring the madness found within.


“Wow! What a mansion!”

The Save Rooms from the Resi series probably maintain such a warm place in my heart due to the contrast between what they represent, and the gameplay inherent within the titles themselves, especially pre-Resident Evil 4, as the series morphed into something else entirely from that point on. The Save Rooms (great band name, by the way) come equipped with calming themes of atmospheric backdrops that let you know everything was going to be alright for a few brief moments, reinforcing the notion you were completely safe from harm or needing to make any life or death decisions for a few precious minutes. Of course, the save rooms also came packing with the good old reliable safe box, which housed the breadth of your saved inventory, healing goodies, key items, badass weaponry galore, but also the typewriter (of legend), which allowed one to save their progress, so they could safely reload and live to fight another day once more.


*Slaps ink ribbon* You can fit so many gruesome
realities in this baby

While I am not usually on the generational vibe train that comes with waxing philosophical while looking back at the nostalgic feels of yesteryear, it behooves me to mention that The Save Rooms in all of their ambience inducing glory, are indeed strong with the force of 90’s energy. I find that, at least in the realm of video games, those strong kind of feels are really all one needs to win over the adult kids now a days, as drudging apathy and inane monotony of the everyday howls so relentlessly, any reminder of an enjoyable summers day gone by that may be evoked from something like the sound of a save room theme is all one needs to find chill in this hectic, chaotic mess we call existence, just to give ourselves a well needed moment of zen.


Both Redfields and Valentine agree: Save Rooms
are the way to be! (Leon unavailable for comment
as he was too busy being a real police dude at the time)

Plus, the save rooms also totally ruled when you were summoning the last of your energy, montage style, in getting all of your best equipment out of the safe box, gearing yourself up in a moment of excited rally to take down the final boss at like 5 in the morning while getting totally hyped.


Groovy

So yeah, there’s a little bit of a revelry of warmth from yours truly. I get carried away sometimes with an intense focus on being perhaps, too methodical in my approach to deconstructing games or overly analytical in breaking down their finer components in relation to design or the overall ethos at large that dictates form or fashion, but for once, I figured I would think with my heart and feel with my brain, and reminisce about the cozy feelings found within The Save Rooms.

~Pashford