Fair warning that Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is not fooling around

There’s permadeath, and there’s no fooling, for reals, forever death. Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice features a game over mechanic that will eventually delete your save file if you fail enough times in-game. Ninja Theory’s hardcore game may be mechanically easier than something like Dark Souls, but the failure punishment goes one further. The player character, Senua, is infected with a creeping darkness on her hands and arms which grows with every death. Die too many times and the darkness will consume Senua leading to the ultimate consequence. The game deletes your save file. There’s no cute gravestone to mark your character’s death. No silly epilogue. Your save file is gone and you get to start all the way from the beginning, fresh as the minute you started. Consider this your public service announcement.

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is available on PlayStation 4 and Windows PC.