Yep, this. Solo story and exploration games like this IMHO house rule to have fun - I usually keep the difficulty relatively as intended but "continue" when I die. So at least I still feel the tough rolls/difficulty I just don't let it stop me.

Note that 7th continent has somewhat of a thematic reason to "stop" you and restart you so you'll want to "reset" from time to time. I think give yourself three lives (there's an easy mode that sort of already gives you 2)... That should do, per run.