I have yet to lose a match in Pyre but I have been trying to decide, if I am going to lose should I restart the match or keep going?

They clearly intended you to keep going so I feel like I shouldn't restart and I should just live with the consequences and then do a second playthrough where I can restart. However, on the other hand I want to win every game!

What have you guys been doing? And what do you recommend?

Don't restart you're only cheating yourself out of the experience you should have had and that the developer foresaw you having.

The game is built around adapting to your win/loss experience. That said, if you just want to experience the story as an undefeated team, go ahead.

Does losing a match get you less money/XP? I could imagine* a scenario where a few losses early on left you underleveled and underequipped enough to make future wins more difficult, which would then push your team further behind.

*I don't know that that's how the game is balanced, I'm just saying that I could see that sort of thing happening.

Listen to your heart

You lose you lose. It does effect the story, but if you can live with that then great, if not restart.

Keep going no matter what, I'd say. I played on normal and the only matches I lost before changing up the diffculty were a practice match and some of the solo-challenges. I was having fun even on normal, but I figured that I should make things more challenging, thus adding a bit more drama to the story and also (hopefully) getting me to play the game better. The lack of game over did make that decision easier.

Yeah, never restart. This is really one of those few "you're playing the game wrong!" if you do restart. The game is built around the expectation that you're not going to win every time.

It seems like living with your failures is a pretty important part of the game. I played the whole thing without restarting but I also somehow got through and only lost once the whole game. I kinda want to replay it and lose every time and see what happens.

I have something to add, but I won't give specific examples because I don't know how far along you are in the game.

Losing can be massively important to your individual/personal story in Pyre. During my playthrough, I deliberately threw two matches in service of my role play. Depending on who you have on your team, who you are facing, and when you are facing them, you and your character might have interests beyond just winning the match. Pyre is probably the first game I've ever played where losing can be more satisfying and relieving than winning.

Thanks a lot for all of your help guys. I'm definitely not going to restart any battles.

I restarted and won every battle and the game kinda made it's own thing out of it. There's a side to the story that get explored if you go that route which they couldn't do if you lost any matches. So I say if you like to win just cause' you want to, restart to your hearts content. I really wouldn't say it's the wrong way to play the game by any stretch.

Can someone explain what exactly happens mechanically if you lose a regular (non-liberation) rite and DON'T restart? I understand the story will adapt, but if you lose normal rites will you still make it to the liberation rite? Or do you have to win a certain number of rites to get to the liberation rite? And do you still get experience if you lose a rite? It would seem a little strange to me narratively if you could still reach the liberation rites at the same strength with or without winning any other rites (ie, still liberate people without winning much), but maybe that's just my decades of typical gaming mindset speaking to me.

@majormitch: Sometimes side quests tie into normal rites and winning defintely helps there but the nature of the Nightwings in story means that you are always gonna be in the liberation right at the end so really not much to worry about.

I still restart though, can't help it.

I just restarted a liberation rite, mostly because I felt like it was a huge ramp up in difficulty that I wasn't prepared for. It felt pretty bad, so I don't think I'll do it again. That being said, if they really didn't want you to restart they wouldn't have given you the option in the game. I'm playing on normal, and haven't really had any significant issues until then, not with the regular or solo challenges (some of which are tough, but have no penalty for losing and you can try them again whenever you want).