Imagine The Binding of Isaac with checkpoints. Or FTL with save system.

I'd still find those fun. Because I enjoy the the gameplay, and the permadeath is just a twist, or a gimmick. As I said, multiple lives are not a free pass to skip hard parts of the game. You try getting the Dead Cat item and tell me if it makes BoI easier. You still have to get past hard parts, and those parts are still hard even with multiple goes - permadeth just makes it take longer. It's a perfectly legitimate mechanic for intense, skill-based games such as BoI, which favour adaptable players. But as I said, turn-based RPGs already have luck-based combat. If you've got luck-based map generation in a game with luck-based combat based around luck-based loot, where exactly does that leave me as a player?

As for FTL, I haven't played it nearly enough to have an opinion on that.

Permadeth sounds more like a heavy metal band every time I say it.

A more appropriate example would be "1up" mushroom. And yes. It does make it easier. Much.

Just one more reason to use it.

But it doesn't. It doesn't magically improve your skill, it just lets you play for longer, in effect combing two play's worth of distance into one.

A person capable of beating Mom is so, regardless of whether they die on the way there or actually make it on that particular run. Permadeath is effectively just padding ("Okay, so you can beat our game... but can you do it ALL IN ONE GO?"), and a game like Binding of Isaac or FTL would be ten minutes long without it.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. My argument with you isn't that permadeath is bad, it is that it's irrelevant. I like FTL and BoI because they are Good Games, and permadeath doesn't really enter into it. Why exactly is permadeath going to make DoD enjoyable for me, considering I don't like the game?

I dunno. For me it takes all the fun knowing that my risks of getting killed aren't actually risks because I can restore save or respawn. Because fuck consequences

Not to mention that permadeath is a good way to increase a player's heart rate and make a game more exciting, especially in a game where being lucky enough for success is difficult.

The thing for me is that runs in BoI or FTL are short enough to almost be considered single levels in the larger game of seeing new content and unlocking shit. Being sent back to the start of a level when you die is fairly reasonable.

Dungeons of Dredmor took me a good ten hours even with permadeth off. To me that's just too big to justify invalidating the player's former progress on death. I'm not surprised modern Roguelikes like Spelunky and BoI are moving towards a more accessible action style of gameplay. It just makes more sense to me.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go roll ten dice until they all come up sixes, because apparently trying to be lucky is exciting.

Finally got my mount in WoW, was only 5 leveles late but yeah. It's fun to go fast. Kids these days don't appreciate mounts, what with the 5 gold cost and all.

MM does have a point - DoD games are relatively long. Playing with permadeath on and losing focus at the end of the game, resulting in 10+ hours of gameplay go away with no reminder except your high score on a tombstone (supposing you beat your previous best scores) is a rather devastating feel. I died to Dredmor himself a couple of days ago. At times like this, I always feel that I'm going to put this game away for a while, but after a couple of hours, I start analysing my skill build, looking for mistakes I made and such, and I usually end up making another attempt at the game.

For me, I think it's the style and the humour of the game in general that's so captivating. There's just so much to see in it - even after a hundred hours, I still manage to run into stuff I haven't seen before.

Concerning the luck factor, I admit that it is definitely there in DoD. However, a LOT depends on your skill build and your knowledge of what you can do with your chosen skills. Many skills are dependent on each other, so you have to make sensible choices when choosing them (unless you want a challenge/early death and go for Random). I remember that I found a really good crossbow in a barrel on the first floor once, which made things a lot easier for me, but that alone is not necessarily enough for winning the game.

A side question: what happens when you die without permadeath on? Do you lose money? Equipment?

Now you get it. Losing is Fun.

You don't respawn, you just have to load from an earlier save like your average RPG. If you didn't save then it's still effectively permadeath.

I picked up a 3DS XL Mario Kart bundle today and Animal Crossing: New Leaf with it. I like the 3DS.

I finished Dangan Ronpa for the PSP. It started out as a rather clumsy mashup of Phoenix Wright and 999 and ended as an incredibly awesome mashup with so much style, flair and character.

It's going to be officially released on the Vita next year in English, probably at a discount price. It's really good so play it then.

I played the full version of Kairo. I think I posted about the early version in one of my art game post no-one except Phylum apparently reads. It's pretty, and finding all the secrets takes a sharp eye.

I hate permadeath along with any negative things when you die in an MMO. I think in games like Call of Duty the stakes are already high as if you die in the middle of a killing streak you lose the potential for your higher streaks, so that already urges people to be cautious.

In games like Walking Dead, even if the threat of death is low, you still have a lot at stake due to all the different characters and wanting to save everyone.

Games I have been playing recently:
Nintendo Land - Great minigame collection, the multiplayer games in particular are fun like the Mario Chase game and Luigi's Mansion. The Zelda and Metroid minigames have that good action feel which is great for me.

Dishonored - Holy hell's bells. The hype was true for this game, the stealth is innovative, there are many ways to kill enemies and the range of magic spells is pretty good to say the least. Definitely need to play more of this.

The Walking Dead Episode 1 - A fun series to play. Watching an LP gives you an idea but until you actually choose the choices yourself, you're missing out on the experience somewhat, plus I got this in a humble bundle so win-win for me.

Animal Crossing Wild World - Great game, nice neighbours, shame they move out from time to time. I like those little social simulators, for some reason they're strangely compelling and I really enjoy the random events like the Flea Market and stuff like that.

Master of Magic - Think civilization but with orcs and hobbits. Smashing stuff and great for when you're downloading stuff in the background and you want an offline experience.

Edit: Also... Just finished Arkham Asylum. Yippie! It's fun to play Challenge mode using Sinestro Corps Batman.

I've also started DOTA2. It's fun but pretty tough. The small text size is a bit annoying too.

Played a QuakeWorld duel with one of my QL buddies.

I naturally had my ass kicked and remembered why I don't play QW, but it was fun. I hit some crazy direct rockets on ZTNDM3 and was starting to push him around with LG in the end. Keen to get into it some more.

Me and Dripik are playing Saints Row 3 in Co-Op and having a shitload of fun.

I’ve been playing Saints Row 2 alone.

http://i.imgur.com/OQYBKvB.jpg

I’m starting to think of it as a terrible fashion simulator.

Try changing your resolution?

also if you've got a 3DS, go buy Animal Crossing: New Leaf. it's pretty much Wild World but a lot better.

Don't get me wrong though, Wild World is a classic :)

Primordia. Damn good. I don't play many point 'n' clicks, but this is definitely my favourite. Immersive world, logical puzzles, and more endings than I was expecting.

True, although we could do without the lag - I guess it's the distance that does it. It doesn't really help that things happen in a slightly different way on my end compared to yours. Otherwise it is fun.

Speaking of Saint's Row, there's a Humble Deep Silver Bundle going on now, which includes, among other things, SR2 and SR3 (SR3 Full Package if you pay above average).

I've returned to LOTR: War in the North. Tad glitchy and team AI is rather inefficient, but there's something satisfying in running around as a dwarf and knocking everything to the ground with an axe/warhammer/shield.

New Double Fine game called Dropchord for iOS and Android. It's a music/rhythm game. It's okay.

I quite like it. Although the controls are a bit clunky on a tablet and it plays like arse on my phone, which is wierd as my phone is newer and more powerful.

My main issue with it is that there is no randomness in the levels, so it's exactly the same game every time. Even if they just changed the orientation of the patterns it would be better.

I've been contemplating on getting The Last of Us. I've heard so many awesome things about it.

It's Uncharted with Zombies.

I bought Bayonetta and have played about 2 hours of it. Very fun so far, I really like the combat.

Play it on Full Mix and there's some variation. I find the later moves very difficult to perform on my iPhone4 which is maybe why I'm not as crazy about it as I would be otherwise.

I've been watching a Let's Play series and the story is definitely interesting. I was drawn more to the multiplayer but I don't have a Playstation 3.

Recently I've been checking out Need For Speed Most Wanted on Wii U. The graphics and gameplay are great, I'm just not used to fast-paced car games so I keep crashing into walls etc. I've also been playing Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale on PC. It's a very fun little JRPG/Shopkeeping Sim. It has that great Japanese vibe and the story is well told and has a lot of humour.

I am playing Grisaia no Kajitsu. A visual novel about terrorism and slutshaming.

http://i.imgur.com/680nj2H.jpg

I'm totally in love with the main character's narration style and deadpan delivery.

12 hours into Saint's Row The Third. That game is balls crazy. And I adore it.

Also Dota 2. Almost at 100 wins and over 200 hours. Just recently tried Anti Mage and he is really awesome.

Finished up Persona 4 Golden.

It's no Persona 3 but it's a really enjoyable, immersive game.