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[mclem]

That wasn't so much as using a save file as it was using a big ass password.

You could also handle it with a link cable.

I think it's the same in spirit, though. Admittedly - due to issues with infrastructure - they couldn't *actively* take the information from the original save file, but they used the passwords or link cables to extract the data that was needed.

On a similar note: Etrian Odyssey. Although the importing was more minor than GS.

 

[Arsenic]

oh ok. I thought it did since I was using the same memory card for both. My mistake.

I didn't mean to sound like i was getting at you lol.
I do hope they do something clever with the game saves from GOW collection

 

[Johann]

I remember a lot of Origin games did that. It was quite a feat with the Ultima games since no two games shared the same code base.

 

[user_nat]

PGR4 has an achievement for finishing PGR3. However, it doesn't work.

 

[kuYuri]

Still the best use of other game saves.

 

[ReyBrujo]

Mario Kart Wii unlocks Rosalina if you have a Super Mario Galaxy save file.

 

[manueldelalas]

The Zelda Oracle games for the GBC did something like this. You could link the two games together using the game link cable or codes you'd get after beating one of the games. I think a few scenes were different and there may have been different items as well. Those games rocked.

It was the only way to fight the real final boss and finish both games =P; bit it was the same as Golden Sun, although you could play GS2 without playing the first one.

 

[Nemo]

The lack of Golden Sun answers in this thread makes me weep.

You and me both. Ah well.

Remember that looooong ass password? I got it right after 10 times. :lol

 

[Cosmo Clock 21]

I typed in the entire Gold GS password then discovered it didn't completely save my Djinni. Ten minutes of my life wasted!

 

[Count Dookkake]

Quest for Glory series

 

[Balb]

SSBM unlocked some trophies if you had certain save files.

Wario Ware: Touched! had an unlock for a toy if Wario Ware: Twisted! was in the GBA slot.

Metal Gear Solid: Psycho Mantis fight

Mass Effect 2 (supposedly)

Gears of War 2 had some gamerpic unlocks

 

[Revolutionary]

Didn't Suikoden III also have the save file feature?

It was awesome, seeing the names of both of your armies of the first games talked about in it... it's a shame Konami has abandoned the feature since.

 

[celebi23]

The most legendary one that I can think of is this:

+

+

=

&

The Stop 'n' Swop Flow

Stop 'n' Swop Revealed *SPOILER*

 

[Gameboy415]

How about all the bumper stickers you can get in Metroid Prime 3?

I remember having a Tomba! save file unlocked extra missions in Tomba 2 back on PS1.

Also, you could unlock lots of secret costumes in Feel the Magic XX/XY on DS by inserting old SEGA GBA games (like Sonic Advance, Space Channel 5, Puyo Pop, etc.) in the GBA slot.

 

[dave_d]

Speaking of old computer games that had this feature, Alternate Reality was supposed to have this feature. Unfortunately if you tried to bring a character from "The City" to "The Dungeon" you got attacked by FBI agents.

 

[storl026]

If you have an ICO save on your memory card, the white spot on your horse's head in Shadow of the Colossus will be the ICO "I" instead of the normal spot.

 

[Son of Godzilla]

The grunts in ODST laugh at you if you have a Halo 3 save.

 

[A Black Falcon]

Quest for Glory series

Really, this is one of the best answers.

When you finish a QFG game, it gives you the option of making a completion save.

You can then use that completion save to start a new game in any QFG game after it in the series with the name, class, and (approximate, and scaled up if you're skipping games) stats of the file you had. You can only load completion saves that are specially created after you beat a game, not just any old savefile. This is what makes the series different from a Baldurs' Gate, in that series you can just load any savefile from the first game and use that character in the second, just levelled up to the minimum level for the sequel if you hadn't reached that point yet. QFG actually makes you beat the games before you can move to the next... kind of annoying at times, sure, but an interesting system as well. Of course QFG games aren't anywhere near as long as BG games, so it's not like it's as time-consuming either...

The fact that you can use a completion save for any game after it in the series is a cool feature as well -- you can use your QFG1 completion save in QFGV and play a scaled-up version of that character. Also, there is one class, the Paladin, that is only available by completing certain quests in a few of the games. You can't just select that class from the start in any game in the series, you need to convert to it by doing the required quests and beating the game in question, and then can play it in any game afterwards by using that completion file.


... As for other things, the Baldur's Gate series if of course obvious, and I did the GBC Zelda Oracles password-game thing as well, and that giant Golden Sun conversion password too... for the Oracles games I think it kind of doesn't count, because the two games are often considered as two halves of one title because of how there's one final boss at the end that you only access by playing both. That's how I usually think of it, really. But still, it does definitely need mention, it was pretty cool to be able to continue your game from one cart on another.

 

[Akuun]

Pokemon does this all the time.

 

[Conrad Link]

I love stuff like this, any time there is a special nod or whatever to fans of the earlier games in the series I'm all over it.

I think the latest one I can think of I saw was Fire Emblem on Wii which I (finally) played through and finished properly earlier in the year.

Love me some Fire Emblem.

I remember old PC games doing it, like Heroes Quest etc also. Its just such a great nod to fans of the series when they offer things like that.

The Zelda Oracle games I almost class 'lock-on' type games like Sonic & Knuckles, in the sense that I played them back-to-back linked up and to me they're pretty much just 1 giant Zelda game of awesomeness but spread out over 2 carts! Linking them up made it awesome, can't imagine playing them 'individually'.

 

[N30RYU]

.Hack
.Hack G.U.

 

[Bii]

Anime games has been mentioned in the first page but I thought it was pretty neat of Naruto Shipudden: Clash of Ninja Revolution 3 giving me 100,000 ryou for the having played the previous games in the series on the Wii. Makes buying the locked characters a whole lot easier.

 

[larvi]

Wizardry 6/7 had one of the better implementations of this. The ending you got in Wiz 6 would determine where your char started in Wiz 7, I think there were 4 or 5 different possibilities. And Wizardry 8 which came out 10 years after 7 still allowed for import of v7 save

 

[The Technomancer]

Pretty sure Kirby:Canvas Curse let you play as Meta Knight if you had a Nightmare in Dreamland cart inserted.

 

[John]

Any games which offer you social choice need to have this kind of thing in. For RPGs especially it's a treat.

 

[Jeff Albertson]

It bugs me that Smackdown games don't use this, I'd like to be able to carry my CAS and moveset over to the newer games

 

[Dead Man Typing]

Shining Force on the Saturn would let the consequences carry over from part 1 to part 2 and 3. Shame parts 2 and 3 never got released in the west. I don't know how major the changes were but it seems similar to what Mass Effect is trying to do.

 

[benjipwns]

A LEGO Star Wars save unlocks all the characters you've unlocked in LEGO Star Wars for play in LEGO Star Wars II.

 

[gunswordfist]

This is an idea that has always fascinated me as a gamer, and I'm kind of sad that it hasn't really taken off with developers in any major way. It really became "doable" first on the Saturn and PSX since those were the first two major systems to divorce the save file from the game disc.

The only games I've ever played that have done this have been Shenmue 1&2 on the Dreamcast and the Mass Effect Trilogy (ok, it doesn't do it yet, but will in a month).

A few games have done some cool things with save files. I know that Psycho Mantis would comment on your save file from Symphony of the Night i the first MGS game. Gears of War 2 also reads your save file from the first game and will unlock some multiplayer characters for use in Gears 2.

I think Grandia may have let you use the same save file from game to game, but I never played it.

Are there any other games that have done cool stuff with this?

WHAT THE FUCK! REALLY?! I need to get the first MGS.

Anyway, I know that Champions WRPG on PS2 let's you use the same file across I believe the two games it had. I think they let you keep your character from the previous game. idk I barely played it while my friend and little brother beat the fuck out of it.

 

[gunswordfist]

I guess I should throw the Pokemon games in this too. They aren't proper sequels, but they were created to allow a save file/sharing between multiple carts in a fairly unique way. Especially unique back when the game first came out.

How could I forget Pokemon. I had 150 Pokemon, then someone started over the game and wrote over my file then I got 150 and then a good friend of mine gave me Mew.

 

[Gospel]

This was mentioned a million times but, .hack did this so well. Even into it's real sequel.

Boktai and Golden Sun for GBA did it nicely too.

 

[gunswordfist]

Suikoden 2 let you use a file from Suikoden 1..you could use the main character from 1 in 2 and some party members could kind of carry over (their equipment or something). Maybe the later Suikodens also could use previous game files.

Just started Devil Summoner 2 today, and it asked if I had a save file from the first game.

Persona 3 FES lets you use a regular Persona 3 file to carry some stuff over.

Some old games too, iirc Bard's Tale 2 could let you import BT1 characters, and BT3 could I think use characters from 1 and 2.

Ultima 5 would let you import your Ultima 4 character I think, or it was Ultima 6 that let you use Ultima 4 or 5 character saves.

Also FFX-2 International let you import a regular FFX-2 save file.

Now that's awesome.

 

[oracrest]

If you had an ICO saved game, the horse in SOTC would have the "I" on his head, rather than his standard white mark. Can't seem to find an image of it though....

 

[Joei]

Didn't Suikoden III also have the save file feature?

It was awesome, seeing the names of both of your armies of the first games talked about in it... it's a shame Konami has abandoned the feature since.

Yeah, it wasn't as pronounced as in the first 2 games though. If you loaded up the Suikoden 2 save file and that one had used the save file from the first game, then it uses the names you used for your first two armies when it discusses the events that happened in those regions. It also brought some extra plays for Nadir to use.

What I always found impressive about loading up the save into 3 was that it actually crossed systems. The first 2 games were PS1 games, while 3 was a PS2 game. It's a shame they stopped using that feature in their mainline games after 3.

Loading up the first game save file into 2 gave some of the returning characters a few extra levels I believe, and there was certain equipment that could be brought over if that character was wearing it (I don't remember offhand which equipment though). Using the main character from the first game was by far the most attractive feature of loading up the save file because he is just a beast in the second game.

 

[DDayton]

Speaking of old computer games that had this feature, Alternate Reality was supposed to have this feature. Unfortunately if you tried to bring a character from "The City" to "The Dungeon" you got attacked by FBI agents.

I really need to play these at some point... good old Atari 8-bit...

Wizardry 6/7 had one of the better implementations of this. The ending you got in Wiz 6 would determine where your char started in Wiz 7, I think there were 4 or 5 different possibilities. And Wizardry 8 which came out 10 years after 7 still allowed for import of v7 save

I was wondering how long before someone would mention the Wizardry series. In theory, you could carry your save from save to save all throughout the series.

What I'm curious about is how far through the series someone could have carried a character if they started with the original Apple II Wizardry.

 

[larvi]

I was wondering how long before someone would mention the Wizardry series. In theory, you could carry your save from save to save all throughout the series.

What I'm curious about is how far through the series someone could have carried a character if they started with the original Apple II Wizardry.

I don't think that was the case, from what I remember (and I've played them since the original on Apple II) is that 1,2 and 3 shared chars, 4 and 5 were stand alone, and 6,7 and 8 shared chars again.

I think the reason a lot of the early crpgs allowed you to carry chars across is that they were based on DnD where you would roll your chars then use those same chars in many different modules

 

[DDayton]

I don't think that was the case, from what I remember (and I've played them since the original on Apple II) is that 1,2 and 3 shared chars, 4 and 5 were stand alone, and 6,7 and 8 shared chars again.

That would make sense... they switched to stand alone about the same time as they had major multiplatform work, and 6-8 were in the time of the IBM PC, right?

 

[DietRob]

I really love the idea of rewarding me for playing the previous game. I got really excited when I heard that ME2 would be using elements from your first save. It makes me feel more fulfilled as a gamer to have the developer recognize that I spent time with the previous title by giving me something extra from those who didn't play.

I wish more devs would hook us up.

 

[larvi]

That would make sense... they switched to stand alone about the same time as they had major multiplatform work, and 6-8 were in the time of the IBM PC, right?

Yeah, while they did have IBM PC versions of all of them, I think 5 was the last to see an Apple II release. 4 was stand alone because it was a completely different concept in that you played the bad guy and started on the bottom of the dungeon and had to fight your way to the top vs all of the do-good heroes. It's still one of my favorite RPG concepts to this day. And 5 started the David Bradley era of the games where they focused more on story than just char building.