A good thought-provoking essay - I didn't gel with Nier:Automata, but was surprised at it having a corpse-run mechanic a'la Dark Souls, didn't realise later in the game it plays with the idea further.

If you played it - what did you think of Hotline Miami? With the instant-replay nature of it's loop, thinking back to it with this POV of the games you've picked out; it's like death is reduced to just a speedbump, but still has some impact & edge with the sound & visceral blood splatter.