Old Save Bonus: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

{{quote|'''Psycho Mantis''': [[No Fourth Wall|So... you like to play]] ''[[Castlevania]]''?

 

The ability to [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|use old save data]] (or in rare cases, use of the physical game) from an old game in a new game (often a direct sequel, though unrelated examples aren't unheard of) [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|for a bonus]]. Mostly, this means a tiny change (such as an acknowledgment of your accomplishments in the first game), or an item that may or may not be useful, but in some RPGs (the main originators of this trope) it is possible to import the character from the last game, levels intact, to start the new one. (The monsters would sometime be scaled up, of course.)

 

Compare to [[New Game+]] and [[Another Side, Another Story]], which reward you for playing the ''same'' game again after completing it once.

* Unlocking Japanese as an audio option for Theater Mode instead of the default English in ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]: [[No Export for You|Final Mix+]]'' requires having a finished ''[[Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories|Re: Chain of Memories]]'' save file on the memory card. Notably, ''Final Mix+'' added a few cutscenes not in the original edition of the game, which means that there is no English voiceover available for them. ''This'', in turn, means that these cutscenes ''are essentially muted'' until you get around to finishing the other game. Which, naturally, is [[Guide Dang It|entirely in Japanese]]. At least ''Re: Chain of Memories'' [[Embedded Precursor|comes with]] ''Final Mix +''...

* Though this trope was dead for many years, it's not really all that new on computers: in early installments of ''[[Ultima]]'', ''[[The Bard's Tale Trilogy|Bards Tale]]'' or ''[[Wizardry]]'', it's possible to import a player from each game in the same series into the next game - although this ended at least a decade before the release of Ultima 9.

** If it counts, Resetti will also thank you for buying both games during the first encounter, if you do transfer your character from Wild World to City Folk.

* Unlocking three achievements in the first ''[[Gears of War]]'' game would unlock three multiplayer characters in ''Gears of War 2''.

* A saved game of ''[[Castlevania: Lament of Innocence]]'' would net you a special item near the start of ''[[Castlevania: Curse of Darkness|Curse of Darkness]]'' that could either be sold for a good amount of cash or be used once to completely fill up your life bar.

* A completed ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]'' save file nets you a reward in [[Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World|its sequel]] if you plug the Gamecube's memory card into your Wii. Said reward is random, ranging from small/cheap healing items that end up saving you some cash to experience boost items for monsters.

** This trend has continued for the numerous spin-off games in the series, such as ''[[Lego Adaptation Game|Lego Rock Band]]'' (where you can export the tracklist to ''[[Rock Band]]'' and ''[[Rock Band]] 2'', and play child-friendly import and DLC songs) and ''[[Green Day]]: [[Rock Band]]'' (which is also compatible with pre-bought [[Green Day]] DLC). ''[[The Beatles]]: [[Rock Band]]'' does not include this feature, however. Harmonix are also working on not only securing the rights to import the songs from ''[[Rock Band]] 2'' to ''[[Rock Band]] 3'', but also [[No One Gets Left Behind|bring back the songs they couldn't relicense at first]] from ''[[Rock Band]]''.

** Implemented similarly to ''Rock Band''{{'}}s Track Packs in ''[[Guitar Hero]] 5'' and ''Band Hero'' with respect to ''Guitar Hero World Tour'' and ''Smash Hits'' - you only need the manual, whose code on the back is unused, and enough money to cover the cost of relicensing. The reason is that instead of '''exporting''' the data, you actually '''download''' revised data (same charts, only with new features like band moments and [[Harder Than Hard|Expert+]] for Drummers where applicable). The disc is not needed at all.

* A save for ''[[Backyard Sports|Backyard Basketball]]'' unlocks Barry Dejay in ''Backyard Baseball''.

* ''[[Etrian Odyssey]] II: Heroes of Lagaard'' had some minor bonuses if you entered a password obtained by beating the original game. While no characters transferred over, people recognized the name of your Guild and that you were "experienced adventurers", and several password-exclusive secrets were unlocked.<ref>However, this also had some ''disadvantages'', such as the tutorial guard not giving your group free Medicas because he assumed your "experienced" Level 1 heroes were strong enough to make it back without any help...</ref>

** ''[[Valkyria Chronicles II]]'' will allow you to unlock several bonus characters, including Isara Gunther {{spoiler|who died in the original game}} if you have save data from ''[[Valkyria Chronicles]]'' moved over from your save there. She's an Armored Tech, and a good one too.

** Having save data from ''II'' will get you Anisette as a playable character in ''''[[Valkyria Chronicles III]]''.

* The Flash RPG series ''[[MARDEK]]'' allows the player to carry over stats and items from chapter to chapter (all chapters are separate games), along with several other variables that are carried over (conversations with NPC's, prior events being referenced in later installments, etc.)

* Starting with the first ''[[Crusader Kings]]'' game, Paradox Interactive began including features in its games that allowed you to port a save to the next game in the chronology, allowing the player to play a single game all the way from [[Crusader Kings|the High Middle Ages]] [[Europa Universalis|through the Renaissance, Enlightenment]], [[Victoria: An Empire Under The Sun|the Pax Britannica, World War One]], [[Hearts of Iron|World War Two, and the Cold War and on up to (almost) the present day]].

* In ''[[Final Fantasy XIII-2]]'', if you have a ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]'' file, you unlock a [[Play Station 3]] theme or Xbox 360 gamer picture, along with the Eternal Crystal item. In addition, you can find masks of Lightning and Serah as adornments if you beat ''XIII''.

* In ''[[Dead Space 2]]'', starting a new game with a save file from ''[[Dead Space (video game)|Dead Space]]'' will give you access to a "refurbished" plasma cutter - which is really just the weapon from the first game (that can't be obtained any other way). Starting a new game with a save file from ''Dead Space: Ignition'' will net you a Hacker RIG (which can be very useful in later parts of the game).

** Same goes for the Gamecube version of ''[[Prince of Persia]]: The Sands of Time'', where you can unlock [[Embedded Precursor|the original]] ''Prince of Persia'' game by linking the GCN and GBA versions—but at least this isn't the only way to do it.

** Ditto with ''[[Crash Bandicoot|Crash Tag Team Racing]]''.

* ''[[Fossil Fighters]] Champions'' allows you to send over fossils from the first game. This makes certain vivosaurs much easier to obtain, as some 'saurs that are only available late-game can be gotten from the start in the original FF. There are also some fossils that can ''only'' be obtained in FF, as some vivosaurs only have head fossils in ''Champions.''<ref>Though fossil-set completion is far less important in ''Champions'' because it's no longer tied to skill learning, it's still the fastest way to level your 'saurs.</ref>

* An unused and unfinished card titled "Terror from the Deep" can be found in the data for the Microprose ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' game with text that indicated you could only use it if you owned the second [[X-COM (Video Game)|X-COM]] game ''Terror from the Deep''. It has 24 power, 24 toughness and costs 7 blue mana, which is better in raw power and power per cost than creatures printed 2 decades of power creep later. How this was supposed to have worked is a mystery.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Older Than the NES]]

[[Category:Video Game Rewards]]