Very interesting idea! From my understanding, surviving will roll credits, but dying will cause you to rebirth with your previous actions affecting the environment. That's a unique exploration of ecology.
I'd recommend looking at the game Otaku's Adventure (bear with me). It expects the players to die and every time they do there is a unique ending. That includes a cool splash screen with epilogue-type text and then the credits roll. What I found interesting about the game is the fakeouts it would play where the player thinks they've found the "true ending." One fakeout made me think that the whole game up to that point was the first act, and then it pulls the curtains on you like saying "fooled ya." You're not making a comedic game, but I think Otaku's Adventure could give you an idea of the narrative tricks you can play.