I loved The Great Tournament and I’m considering buying the rest of Philip Kempton’s games (Great Tournament 2, Life of a Mercenary, and War for Magincia) but some of the older reviews complain about having no save system; if you make a mistake you have to restart from the beginning. Has this been changed since?
Sadly no they don’t have a save system 
. And you can install and check yourself (only the first part is free)
But I don’t think that should stop you from trying them so. I have tried all these games. And I would like to tell you that you won’t be disappointed.
All of them are great even without a save system
I remember seeing a post of the author himself working on a sci-fi but I am not sure if he is still active
My newest game will have a save system / checkpoint per chapter.
Philip Kempton’s games are really fun even without a save system! The stories are so engaging that it’s worth playing. I think you should definitely try them. It’s also great to hear about new projects coming up