10 Video Games That Messed With Your Saves

Rounding off the list, we have the NieR duology! (Which kind of spoils what the no.1 entry will be, but oh well).

Replicant, the first game in the NieR saga, contains one of the most well-known examples of save-screwing in video games. To summarize: after completing the game again...and again...and again...the protagonist is finally within touching distance of his goal - a cure for his sister's terminal illness.

The catch? To attain it, he must sacrifice everything. And by "everything", the game means "all your save data".

We'll give the developers credit: it's certainly a memorable dilemma. Which means more to the player: The life of the digital child they've purportedly been playing the game to save, or the real-world hours they spent in pursuit of that goal? Because once those saves are gone, they're gone for good.

Or at least, that was the case.

In the recent remake, the developers evoked the spirit of Steve Jobs and added "One More Thing..." - a chance to regain your saves through one final playthrough.

It's certainly a lot more hopeful than the original game's downer ending, and echoes developer Yoko Taro's increasingly optimistic world view. A view best encapsulated in...