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I have a bit of a concern about the games' difficulty.
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So what are your reasons why death isn't necessary in adventure games?
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Death isn't generally a major part of an adventure game's difficulty, unless the game is heavy on arcade sequences or timed sequences. I play adventure games to relax, so I prefer if the puzzles are solved by thinking and exploring rather than a constant test of reflexes and quick decision making.
In my opinion, allowing for deaths can be a good thing if it adds to the mood of the game by giving a sense of real danger. It should be supported by an auto save feature, or give an option to restart the section that led to the death, though. Having to save every 2 minutes to avoid replaying large sections of the game is a mood killer for me at least.
I played a lot of old Sierra games before trying out the no-death Lucas Arts games, and while I love the Sierra classics, it was a relief to be able to play without being penalized for trying everything. I think that had more to do with knowing that there were no dead ends than deaths, though. With the exception of Full Throttle, I think the puzzles in Lucas Arts games require more thinking and experimenting than the Sierra games. To a certain extent, it's the lack of penalties for experimenting that allows more complicated puzzles, and I think that's a good tradeoff.
