Save Room: The Merchant

71%
Game Brain Score Based on 110 reviews
  • gameplay
  • grinding
  • story
Save Room: The Merchant Game Cover
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"Save Room: The Merchant" is a casual, single-player game that offers a unique gameplay experience centered around organization and inventory management. To advance through 40 handcrafted levels, players must strategically sell treasures to a merchant and purchase necessary items using earned pesetas. Successful level completion requires careful arrangement of items and logical financial planning, all set to a backdrop of relaxing music and sound effects. The game is grinding-intensive, requiring players to repeatedly sell and buy items to progress.

  • PC
  • Windows
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

71%
Audience ScoreBased on 110 reviews
gameplay12 positive mentions
grinding12 negative mentions
  • The game retains the enjoyable inventory management puzzles from the original, providing a nostalgic experience for fans of Resident Evil 4.
  • The addition of the merchant mechanic introduces new layers to the gameplay, making it more challenging and engaging for players who enjoy inventory organization.
  • The game features a relaxing atmosphere with nice music, making it a good choice for casual puzzle gaming.
  • The new merchant mechanics add unnecessary tedium, requiring players to navigate through multiple menus and perform repetitive tasks that detract from the overall enjoyment.
  • The game suffers from various technical issues, including bugs that can reset levels and hinder gameplay, as well as a clunky user interface.
  • Many players feel that the sequel does not live up to the original, with complaints about it being overly complicated and less satisfying due to the added busywork.
  • gameplay48 mentions

    The gameplay of the sequel has received mixed reviews, with many players appreciating the nostalgic puzzle elements and the introduction of the merchant mechanic, which adds a layer of inventory management reminiscent of Resident Evil 4. However, several reviewers feel that the added mechanics create unnecessary complexity and tedium, detracting from the overall enjoyment and pacing of the game. While some find the new challenges engaging, others believe that the game would have benefited from a more streamlined approach, echoing the sentiment that "less is more" in puzzle design.

    • “The extra story, updated graphics, and puzzle gameplay is awesome.”
    • “A very fun and relaxing game like the first one with some new mechanics added.”
    • “Great puzzle game, new mechanics and the same nostalgic mood.”
    • “It is essentially just menuing as a core game mechanic, and I think it brings the entire experience down.”
    • “The new gameplay adds nothing but tedium.”
    • “Compared to the original, the new mechanics added with this sequel detract from the experience.”
  • grinding12 mentions

    Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious, with cumbersome menu navigation, repetitive tasks, and frustrating merchant mechanics that detract from the experience. While some improvements, like the ability to select multiple items, are noted, the overall sentiment leans towards the game being overly reliant on tedious mechanics that hinder enjoyment. Many reviewers express disappointment compared to the original game, highlighting the need for better optimization and user interface design.

    • “Just not as good as the first game, way more tedious having to make sure to sell certain things in a specific way else you have to restart the whole level, and it's really annoying having to organize the treasures to sell at the beginning of every level, just way too time-consuming and on top of that going into the options menu restarts the level so that's dumb.”
    • “If the purpose of this sequel was to be an infuriating, beyond tedious game then it succeeded.”
    • “If I had to give it a one-word review, it would be 'tedious.' Very tiring to play, cumbersome controls for both control schemes, way too much menuing, and too often relies on repetition instead of actual puzzling.”
  • story8 mentions

    The story is largely a derivative retelling of Resident Evil 4, featuring updated graphics and puzzle gameplay, but lacks originality and depth. While some players find it serviceable for gameplay progression, others criticize it for being uninspired, riddled with bugs, and featuring a grating shopkeeper voice. Overall, the narrative feels like a budget version of its predecessor, lacking the creativity and engaging mechanics that made the original memorable.

    • “The extra story, updated graphics, and puzzle gameplay is awesome.”
    • “All of the achievements of the game are fairly easy to obtain through the story and natural gameplay.”
    • “A little game of organizing an inventory, very inspired by RE4 and a mocking story that goes with the levels.”
    • “On top of that, the shopkeeper's voice is grating, the story is a waste of time, and the game is riddled with bugs and spelling errors.”
    • “In-between levels you get a budget version of Resident Evil 4's story.”
    • “Largely copies plot names and ideas from Resident Evil 4 but has no actual creativity, freedom, or mechanics that made the inventory management from RE4 fun.”
  • humor6 mentions

    The humor in the game is generally considered less effective than in its predecessor, with players noting that while there are some amusing lines and interactions, they often feel compelled to skip through cutscenes. The dialogue features light-hearted banter among characters, but it doesn't consistently land as well as expected.

    • “Female merchant: (chuckling) 'not bad for an old codger.'”
    • “Luis: (chuckling) 'oh man, this is gold.'”
    • “Leon: (laughing) 'we’ve had enough 'bargaining' with creepy merchants for a lifetime, but sure, let’s see what you’ve got.'”
  • stability3 mentions

    The game experiences notable stability issues, including glitches in the shop that hinder mass purchases and a higher frequency of bugs compared to its predecessor. Additionally, it is not yet optimized for Steam Deck, with UI problems and unresponsive controls reported.

    • “Sometimes the shop glitches and won't let you mass buy.”
    • “The game is pretty buggy, perhaps more so than the previous save room game, strangely enough.”
    • “Not yet compatible with Steam Deck; the UI is not fitted for the game, and the cursor freezes while the D-pad and mouse are not working.”
  • graphics3 mentions

    The graphics are generally praised for their quality and enhancement, contributing positively to the overall experience. Users appreciate the visual updates and find the graphical representation of weapons particularly enjoyable.

    • “The extra story, updated graphics, and puzzle gameplay are awesome.”
    • “The graphics were nice, and putting the weapons in there was fun.”
  • music3 mentions

    The music in the game is generally praised for being nice and relaxing, with stellar sound effects; however, some players find it can become tedious and less interesting over time, particularly noting that the merchant's voice acting can wear thin.

    • “The music and sound effects are stellar.”
    • “Music is nice and relaxing.”
    • “Not bad, but kind of tedious after a while, and the music isn't terribly interesting.”
  • atmosphere3 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is heavily infused with nostalgia, reminiscent of classic Resident Evil titles, characterized by eerie sounds and dim lighting that enhance the immersive experience. Players appreciate the blend of tension and relaxation, making it ideal for puzzle-solving sessions.

    • “Well, for starters, it's got that classic Resident Evil 4 atmosphere.”
    • “The game has a great atmosphere, perfect for relaxing and solving puzzles for hours.”
    • “The atmosphere whispers, 'you’re in a Resident Evil game': every creak, every dim light is dripping with nostalgia... and the sound of you rotating a shotgun 45 degrees.”
    • “The game has that classic Resident Evil 4 atmosphere.”
  • optimization1 mentions

    The game's optimization has been criticized for exacerbating its original flaws, particularly in the user interface and controls, which are seen as tedious and repetitive. Additionally, the color scheme poses accessibility issues for colorblind players, further highlighting the need for improved optimization.

    • “All this bloat highlights the original game's negative parts, which are now even worse: the UI and controls are tedious and could have been optimized to minimize repetitive and useless tasks. The whole red/green/yellow color scheme is a nightmare for colorblind players, to name a few.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

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