If you fancy yourself something of a combat master when it comes to games like Echoes of Aincrad, the latest title in the Sword Art Online universe, then you might want to consider checking out the Death Game Mode option when you start a new save file.

After you've unlocked Death Game Mode in Echoes of Aincrad, you'll have the ability to put yourself through a challenge quite like the one in the anime and manga series, where death in the game can mean death for real. This optional Echoes of Aincrad challenge mode isn't for the feint of heart!

What Is Death Game Mode?

Unless you purchased the Ultimate Edition of Echoes of Aincrad, in which Death Game Mode unlocks as soon as you've finished the tutorial in the Town of Beginnings early on into your initial save, you'll need to progress through Echoes of Aincrad to unlock access to the permanent death challenge. In the regular edition of the game, this challenge option unlocks after you've beaten the main game.

Once you've unlocked Death Game Mode in Echoes of Aincrad, you'll be able to begin a new save file anytime from the game's main menu and select it as an option. You'll choose your game difficulty, which can be changed at any time in the settings if you find the combat to be too daunting or too easy, and after, you'll be able to choose whether you'd like a normal adventure or if you'd prefer to check out Death Game Mode.

You'll get a screen warning you of the challenge: your save data is deleted if your character dies in battle. Most game modes allow you and your partner to head through checkpoints and respawn if you fall during combat, but if your character falls during the Death Game Mode, the character is permanently erased from your console, and you'll need to begin from the top if you'd like to try again.

You cannot recover this data in any way after it's deleted from Echoes of Aincrad, so be careful! You also cannot swap out of Death Game Mode in the same save - you'll need to start over from scratch in Standard Mode if you'd like to change your mind.

The start screen warns about any interruptions to the application on your console or PC, including other programs you have running that may impact system stability, or turning off the game or your power without saving, and how they may corrupt your Death Game Save. This includes unexpected power loss to your device, so be ultra-mindful while you're playing - there are enough ways to chance your save data in the game without worrying about losing power to a storm or having your device power off suddenly.

The start screen suggests a few tips for getting the most challenge out of the Death Game Mode in Echoes of Aincrad, including playing the game on Very Hard difficulty to make the combat feel more realistically perilous or not checking any guides or walkthroughs, making your own way through Aincrad like a new player would in the game for real. Other than the Death Mode challenge itself, though, you can select your difficulty relative to the challenge, and you can still change it later on.

It also warns that the stakes are higher as you level up, since the game will erase saves for characters at their first level just as readily as it will players who've maxed out. You'll progressively get better gear, superior armor sets, and all kinds of unlocks when it comes to how you've spent your Growth Points and learned your Sword Skills. There's a lot to lose as you reach higher levels of the game!

Playing the Death Game Mode in Echoes of Aincrad all but requires you to have mastered the game's mechanics. You'll need to have a strong grasp of which weapons work the best for you and how to get them, which gear is best-suited to the challenge with any extra HP as buffs where you can get it, how to keep a steady supply of healing items, and more.

In all, Death Game Mode is an impressive, high-stakes challenge mode for Echoes of Aincrad that'll put you through your paces and make the game feel the most like Sword Art Online, where you cannot respawn after you fall.