I liked the threat of permanent character death, yes I did lose a few characters during my review. (mygameslounge.com)
There are five permanent characters in the main game, with the extra one staying put in a town when not traveling with the hero. (dragon-quest.org)
Even Fire Emblem, that bastion of permanent character death and denier of mid-mission saving, allowed players to save mid-battle in the newest release, thereby somewhat changing your strategy. (thatvideogameblog.com)