I, like so many other gamers, love survival horror games, and more so the resource management elements which really enhance the tension. One of the best examples of resource management in any game is Resident Evil 4, which in itself was a master class of horror and action. The inventory system was innovative and provided a neat challenge while being a sort of fun mini-game in itself. Again, I, like so many others had wondered why this type of gameplay was never expanded upon into a bigger experience.
Well, I can say now that our prayers have been fully answered with the topic of today’s review, Save Room.
What is Save Room? 
Save Room is a simple, yet engaging puzzle experience, feeling incredibly reminiscent of Resident Evil 4’s inventory system. The objective is simple, you the player have limited space in his inventory, but many cool items that will surely help him on a difficult journey, including first aid, ammo and powerful weapons. While you don’t see any action, you’ll be doing the vital job of making sure your case is packed with all these goodies, and nothing is left behind.
There are 40 stages where the inventory size becomes increasingly more difficult to manage, with bigger, more complex items to store, and new elements to consider such as item combination. It's pretty much like Tetris, but with guns, herbs, and chicken eggs!
This is a most definitely game for a person who likes to hang out with his buddy, drink cider and sort out old coins in rarity and condition (yep, I’ve done that and it's awesome).
Heh, Heh, Heh, what are you buying Gamer? 
So, right off the bat, you can tell the designer loves RE4 as much as I and the hardcore RE fans. And why not, RE4 is great! And more so the inventory system is legendary, being challenging and fun at the same time.
Everything from the look of the UI, to the items you need to store, and the health meter all look like something straight out of Resident Evil 4. The game itself looks pretty decent and is quite smooth in operation. I had no issues navigating, moving multiple items and combing, which all felt easy to carry out.
In regards to visuals, while the main menu and other in-game menus look a little off, the main game looks incredibly nice. But there is quite a bit of repetition in the items you see, which is a shame considering the number of weapons there were in RE4. You’ll see the same old shotgun, pistol and submachine gun over and over, with very few new items being added. Again a shame as there were so many weapons in RE4 which could have elevated the challenge in some way. I do fully understand this is very much an indie game, and hopefully, for the sequel, there will be more weapons … and hopefully, more than one song playing throughout the game (not a bad song, but nice to have some variety).
Time to pack my RPG away
The objective to Save Room is simple, pack away in a limited inventory space a host of various resources including weapons ranging from pistols to RPGs, and other items such as first aid sprays and herbs. The inventory space will change over time, and new items are gradually added in to add more layers to the challenge, such as gunpowder, and herbs.
The framework is simple, yet the best puzzle games manage to captivate and challenge with minimal gameplay mechanics (i.e Tetris). But Save Room adds some neat dynamics to flesh it out from just finding the right arrangement of items in a limited space. Players will have to not only fill the inventory space with all items given but have to ensure all weapons are loaded, and health is completely restored (yep, you get a health meter in this). Which does expand upon the challenge in some interesting ways.
Combing ammo to guns will help reduce what you need to store away, and by taking first aid items, you will restore your health. You can combine herbs into power medicines, solving two problems at once. Yet the designer has expanded on this core mechanic even further by adding items which will reduce your health. Now you can’t die in Save Room, but you will have to reduce your health and restore it, multiple times even at the same level, to progress further. Eating rotten eggs and fish, will you reduce your health, and there are moments you have to judge when to reduce your health and when to restore it. Very cleaver stuff, and its deeps the core gameplay and lateral elements.
Working together you have the Tetris-style components of sorting weapons and other items, plus the health meter which has you tactically using and combing items for the needed effects. There is also ammo crafting, which again adds another layer to the formula. You have in total three types of powder, and combing each of these to one another creates handgun, shotgun, rifle, submachine gun or magnum ammo to use. Making sure you combine the right powders is one task to solve, but also thinking about weapon capacity is another interesting problem. While it doesn’t present itself as much of a problem as the health meter, you will need to remember how much each gun can hold, as you can reload one gun completely and have the ammo left over, which can’t be stored.
There are many checks needed to proceed, and one small mistake can mean you need to restart.
Generally, the overall structure is pretty solid, with a good sense of item management, with some neat dynamics including the health meter and ammo creation. I do wish there were more weapons or at least an expansion of item combing, such as fixing together attachments/upgrading to weapons and having to store them. Such as using an extended clip on a pistol and then reloading the pistol with the extended magazine, thus ridding you of spare ammo. Or even to introduce treasures or key items which need combing with various other components.
Yet I understand this was not the case with RE4, as key items had their own inventory. But it might be cool for Save Room 2 if you had an instance where you needed to mix up a formula using various components (Like the V-Jolt from Resident Evil 1).
While it doesn’t go much further than combing items and using health items, the gameplay is still thoroughly enjoyable and presents some genuinely tough challenges. Save Room is a pleasant surprise for the end of 2022, and should be checked out by RE fans, puzzle fans and especially Tetris fans ... if Tetris had eggs, and guns instead of blocks.
Overall?The simple activity of sorting items might not be for everyone, but if like me, you love the RE4 management system, and a game like Unpacking, then Save Room will indeed be your cup of red, green, and yellow herb tea. I love the fact someone has made the RE4 inventory into an actual game, and while there was room for more to be added in, the core gameplay is incredibly engaging, and the visuals for the most part look very nice, in keeping with that RE4 aesthetic! I really hope the designer brings us Save Room 2 soon!
++ A great concept for a puzzle game
+ Weapons, and inventory space look cool
+ Lots of neat dynamics to flesh out the sorting gameplay
+ A chilled, yet challenging lateral experience
- Combing mechanic could have been expanded upon
- Some menus and UI look off
- Repeated use of various weapons and items
An Xbox Series X/S review key of Save Room was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
