opal hatch
Death seems to become more of a fun hack and slash rather than a threat at a certain point with you fully armored. Here are ideas to "fix" death :
-"new" abyss, as the name stands, an abyss is a place devoid of shape and form yet it doesnt mean this same abyss should just be a blank plate, terrain variation such as holes, hills, crevices would add to the immersion of a desolated place
-"stronger foes", our willie has the might to stay a human during his arrival to the abyss, how come no one else get this same courage ?
Stronger foes would be an rng number related to how "angry" the foe you killed was (could be based on the agression), if this rng number is sucessfull, that foe will be a normal willie in the abyss, bringing greater danger for you, yet bringing danger to himself has ghouls will attack this foe.
-stress
No music until a fight occurs. Just like demo's abyss crechendo when encountering a boss. Keep the sound of the wind howling pierce our ears. Build the tension that you are fighting death and not another challenge.
Insure mechanic : as of now, losing and dying presumably dont affect your inventory, insured or not. What if it did ? Dropping a weapon and dying would result in its absence in your inventory and abyss, insured items would come but become uninsured, ence making the risk-reward factor higher