In the earliest days of video games, it was all but guaranteed that players would become intimately familiar with the Game Over screen. Games were exceedingly difficult, requiring a massive amount of patience to finish. However, in most if not all cases, this difficultly was not a deliberate, artistic choice, but one of inexperienced developers and technological limitations, leading to countless cheap moments of difficulty.
As time has gone on and video game development has become more understood and more advanced, these cheap moments have been reduced dramatically. Challenges have gotten a lot more fair and accessible so that people don't have to spends hours upon hours perfecting their gameplay. Even the very concept of Video-Game Lives is largely only seen in deliberately Retraux games these days. Some games take it a step further and remove the concept of a failure state altogether, making it so it is literally impossible for your player character to die.
Examples:
- GRIS: At no point in the game is it possible for Gris to die by failing a challenge. Fall off a platform and you just land on a lower level and can immediately make your way back up to try again.
- Prince of Persia (2008): Failing a jump will result in Elika grabbing the Prince's arm and pulling him to safety. Failing in combat will just result in the enemy having some of their health restored.
