Does Perma Death make a game scarier?

[DavidS]

I think it really comes down to the game itself and how Death can even be a creatively used mechanic. Take Prey for instance, where you go to the afterlife and kill souls to get reborn...maybe not the best solution though, but how about Demon Souls? Continually dying changed the game and also fit in the paralell universe setting they also have in the sequel. Dying becomes an integral part of the game and yet you still are afraid of it because of the Bonfire/Nexus hub loading wich sets you back quite a bit and leaves you without any souls/xp. But since it relies much more on your actual skills to dodge and block than on some arbitrary numbers it always gives you the feeling that you have learned something.

That said, perma Death can work in a games favor, especially when it is looking to be more of a simulation like DayZ. Dying was horrible because surviving was the main incentive. It has no story except the ones you "play" yourself. In a strongly story driven setting this will only lead to frustration though. After all you are forced to go through everything again, wich pulls you out of the world and makes the game feel more like work than entertainment.