[citation][nom]NuclearShadow[/nom]I understand that but your your leaving out the potential that there may be things that can hurt the player along the way. If the player is already is already unlikely state of survival the "hint system" would have to cheat to achieve its goal.[/citation]
Maybe you remember back in the day of old adventure games, you could end up at a dead end in progression, making it impossible to continue without restarting the game, or going to a previous save game.
I would considering that bad game design. But I would think I better idea of a hint system would be less, doing it for you, and more showing you how it's done. For example:
You're playing a platforming game, and you can't figure out how to cross a gap. You start the hint, and an AI takes over, and a small picture of the face of the controller, and the buttons unseen from the top next to it. You'd be able see the button presses, and it's actions.
Then you'd regain control right back at the start.