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One thing many RPGamers, such as I, fear is the dreaded Game Over screen, which can sometimes occur suddenly, without warning, and in the most unfortunate instances after long, exhausting battles that are for naught. Being autistic, I am far more sensitive to annoying gameplay mechanisms in RPGs than the average gamer, so the prospect of losing in a game can be infuriating to me, resulting not only in a lot of lost progress, but also things such as a temporarily lost voice, broken controller, bruised wrist, parental wrath, and the like.
Sometimes, Game Overs aren't that bad, mainly if they come after a losing battle that just so happens to immediately follow a save point. Although if losing battles follow a long, exhausting dungeon with no opportunities whatsoever for the player to save his or her progress, Game Overs can literally be a middle finger to the player, especially if the game afterward unceremoniously dumps them back to the title screen. And repeating the process of making it to the very point of defeat can be unentertaining and tedious, especially if doing so again results in a Game Over.
Game Overs aren't a problem in most games that let players save anywhere, such as the original Phantasy Star and many installments of the SaGa series. Some may argue that allowing players to save their progress anywhere might make games easier, although the aforementioned titles are far from cakewalks. Granted, allowing players to save their progress anywhere might not be a good thing in some instances, such as dungeons from which the player cannot at all depart back to a town or safe zone where he or she can heal or purchase better equipment and items. Final Fantasy XII politely indicates to players at times while saving that they may not be able to easily depart a certain data, and may perhaps wish to save to another file.
There are many ways that RPGs can soften the blow of a Game Over. For instance, all Dragon Quest titles penalize players, upon defeat, with a loss of half their money, sometimes a godsend given their restrictive save systems. Some may lament the loss of half their money in the series, although players can store their money in banks to somewhat soften the blow of their potential financial losses. The Shining Force series penalizes players the same way, with the protagonist's defeat ending a battle, although the player still retains all experience for his or her characters.
Other titles deal with player defeat differently. For instance, titles such as Mega Man X Command Mission and Tales of Legendia allow players to restart the battles that defeated them from the beginning, or just outright quit the game. Furthermore, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, technically the first Castlevania RPG, deals with player defeat in a way that even puts its later successors to shame. Like many old action games, it features a system of lives, which, when completely expired, result in a Game Over screen, although the player can still continue the game from his or her point of defeat while experiencing a penalty of the loss of all experience to the next level and hearts used both to gain levels and purchase occasional items.
I've also noticed that most RPGs tend to be extremely uncreative with their Game Over screens, merely showing a graphic alongside the words "Game Over." Theoretically, throughout the course of a game's plot, the death of the player's party would result in negative consequences for the game's world and allow the villains to triumph, although very few titles show the player what happens if his or her party dies. Many titles, thus, could perhaps have multiple, evolving Game Over screens that show different results of the player's death as Tales of the Abyss does at times with postmortem skits.
My ideal Game Over screen would perhaps involve the protagonist about to be executed by the enemy, alongside options to either continue with a penalty albeit retained experience and progress, or quit the game and reload previous save data. If the player chose to continue, then the protagonist would break free from his or her execution, slay his intended executioners, and continue with his or her crusade. If the player, conversely, chose to quit, then the enemy would violently execute the protagonist, and show players a true Game Over screen alongside the protagonist's bleeding cadaver, skeleton, ashes, or whatever.
In summation, RPGs need not be so cruel to the player if he or she dies throughout the course of games. Many suggest that games are stress relief, although the potential for much lost progress can be a stress inducer in and of itself, sometimes having dire consequences in the gaming world and the real world. Certainly, RPGs can and should take many precautions to discourage player death, although they should simultaneously do far more, in many instances, to make RPGamers fear not the dreaded Game Over screen.
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