10 Video Games That Punish You For Dying
6. The THREAT Of Permadeath - Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
There's the grim reality of permadeath and then there's duping the player into believing that permadeath is on the cards.
The latter is very much with the case with Ninja Theory's excellent Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, where upon dying for the first time, players are informed that a dark rot will grow on protagonist Senua every time she perishes. If you die enough, the rot will consume her entire body and force the player to start the game from the very beginning.
It was a pretty mean threat that immediately got players' backs up, yet as those who investigated eventually realised, it was actually a totally empty one, and after five-or-so deaths, the rot never rises any higher up Senua's body.
Even so, it's a clever little trick to keep players on their toes and suggest a greater penalty for succumbing to the game's enemies. On the other hand, some might not appreciate the artificially induced anxiety of an actually non-existent threat.