I think there's something valuable beyond the gameplay and narrative in the way you rehearse confrontation with death, if that makes sense.

I feel like you're right -- that maybe the reason the story trajectory feels satisfying instead of disappointing is because we know that under the vampires or ghouls or whatever, it's our story.

The process of the situation in the kayak getting worse and worse and the character continuing to struggle and seek for any sign of hope feels *right* to me in a way I haven't actually lived out in that detail (never having died at sea).