10 Video Game Difficulty Modes You Must Complete Without Dying Once
8. Cadence of Hyrule x Crypt of the Necrodancer - Permadeath Mode
Crypt of the Necrodancer, released by Brace Yourself Games in 2015, has proven incredibly successful with fans of the roguelike genre. It's the same cycle of venturing through rooms, defeating enemies and upgrading your character with a unique twist.
The clue is all the name; this dungeon crawler is all about timing your movements, attacks and item pickups with the game's funky soundtrack, which also forms much of its difficulty. Keep within rhythm and you'll deal more damage and keep in tune with the enemy's attacks.
It's already a tricky game, particularly as once you die the game's randomly generated environments and loot reset to another random layout. When the title came to the Nintendo Switch, it found a lucrative crossover with industry icon The Legend of Zelda. Instead of DLC, the console exclusive Cadence of Hyrule arrived in 2019, which saw Link and Zelda make an appearance.
This unique entry for the two franchises features a mode where dying once sends you all the way back or starting a new save file. It's very much a throwback to the older style Zelda pioneered in the eighties. Get a game over and you'll have to try again; there are no checkpoints to be found in permadeath mode.