Does Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice delete your save file if you die too often?
There has been a lot of media coverage of a controversial feature in Hellblade where your save game is deleted if you die too much.
Examples:
- Eurogamer: Hellblade deletes your save file if you die too many times
- PC Gamer: Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice deletes your save file for dying too often
However, some news site I've never heard of claims that
Hellblade save files won’t really be deleted if you die too often. [..] Adding a false message of perma-death makes sense if you consider Senua’s mental state. She is afraid of things that aren’t real, that fear is what the developers want you to feel.
So which is it?
Best Answer
According to the Giant Beastcast on 8/11 "the game states that you will loose your save file if you die too many times but your brain is lying to you" which is like the game saying its lying to you about this feature. There is no permanent death in the game this is discussed at the 19 min mark.
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What happens if you die too many times in Hellblade?
If the rot reaches Senua's head, her quest is over and all progress will be lost'. It's easy to understand why so many players interpreted this to mean that dying too many times would cause Senua to be permanently killed \u2013 all saves to be wiped, forcing you to start Hellblade over again.How many times can we die in Hellblade?
how many times can you die? An infinite number of times. Permadeath is a mind game that the devs play on you. Game is somewhere between 6-9 hours.Does Hellblade save?
The long answer is, the game straight up tells you, in quite literally the only popup all game, and very early on, that your save will be deleted if you die too much.Senua's Saga: Hellblade II - Gameplay reveal
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Answer 2
I have read this somewhere else, so I cannot claim "ownership" of this answer. It is also a spoiler for the ending of the game, so I will mark it accordingly.
If I recall correctly, the message says that the Darkness is trying to take over Senua, which is shown with the dark patches crawling up her arm. Dying makes these patches go up a tiny bit of skin. Allowing this darkness to reach Senua's brain will delete the save file.
After the battle with Hela, Senua accepts that her love is gone, and that makes the darkness reach her head. The game is intended to just finish after this last event, as there is nothing to "continue". The message is foreshadowing this moment, in which the save file gets "deleted" and the only option is to start a new game.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Brett Sayles, Artem Beliaikin, Alem Sánchez, Anete Lusina