Here's a great article that makes an excellent case for why autosaves or retry buttons ruin the sense of tension and atmosphere in games. The article obviously is about survival horror games, so it's a bit off topic, but the overarching concept of the value of limited retries and actual punishment for deaths is relevant to a discussion of adventure games as well. And it's just a good read in general, and reminds us of the gradual dumbing down of games as a whole.
http://gamecritics.com/guest-critic/...urvival-horror