I also want to throw out another point about trial-and-error death mechanics. They should be largely consistent through the game. If the game is about lots of trial and error I don't get upset about seeing the game over screen, it's part of the challenge of the game. The problem is that when there are just a few circumstances of trial and error interspersed with a more laid back main game.

It really breaks things up when I'm making my way through a game and all of a sudden I get owned by an unforeseen difficulty spike.