Theres a trick to making the game marathon-safe in permadeath
mode. If you die in permadeath mode, just ALT+F4 to quit the
game immediately on the death screen. As long as you dont hit
the Quit button on the death screen, you will still have that
save slot intact at the last point where you saved. There is
one caveat to using this hidden feature: it automatically saves
your game time. So if you die in permadeath, you are guaranteed
to have a longer play time but at least you can recover the
save and continue the run. This trick is also very helpful for
learning routes in permadeath mode.
-=Alternative=-
Tie the Victory Emblem to going Swordless. Once you have it,
remove the normal barriers that would require a sword. That way
Newbies would have to take the sword on a first run, but once
you clear the game, youre assumed to know enough about it that
you can attempt it without the sword. And just have Permadeath
mode negate the Emblem requirement.
