Ink Ribbon

The Ink Ribbon is an item used in most of the earlier Resident Evil games to save progress. These are in short supply and must be carried by the player to a Typewriter in order to save. In more recent games the Ink Ribbon is more tokenistic and is not required, or sometimes they don't even appear at all. Essentially most games before Resident Evil 4 used them.

It's function is to provide a strip of ink for a typewriter and is in the form of a roll. The Ink Ribbon is installed into the Typewriter, and as keys are pushed the type element strikes against the Ink Ribbon and that results in an impression of the type onto the page.

The Ink Ribbons seen in the earlier games are a fixed amount and as such there is a predetermined number of saves you can make (that is, if you even manage to find them all). Also, in the first Resident Evil, examining the Ink Ribbon plays an animation where the cap is removed and you can see the ribbon inside.

In the Resident Evil 2 Remake, the Ink Ribbon makes a return but only in the Hardcore difficulty mode. Once again there is a limited number of saves. Otherwise, in other difficulties you can Save whenever you like and there is no limit.