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@Samuel_H_Young True and it does depend on the game. For me, I look at it like this. The player character and their posse is to some extent special; more so than the other people you encounter. The reason being, for me, is that it is important that someone feels invested in their character. That doesn’t mean things won’t be difficult however.

So with that in mind, if a game were to not have a checkpoint, the combat could be very dramatic and at times very difficult. It may be life-threatening but in all cases, perhaps the player has an opportunity to back away or end the fight by doing something cool or avoid the fight altogether. Again, this is dependent on the game but I think there should be the option to resolve any given situation in a number of ways.

Of course, having a reasoned discussion with a blood-thirsty goblin - as in your case - is going to be difficult but perhaps in some situations, a player could use stealth, for example? I should say though, I don’t think removing checkpoints is appropriate for any and all games but where possible, if you can remove that safety net and still make it seem tense and exciting for the player, I would go for it.

@Havenstone For replayability, I can see the value of a checkpoint system. Again, I do have some personal disagreements with it but they are only personal feelings and I can completely understand why people would want checkpoints in their system for whatever reason.