Perhaps Richtofen has the ability to change time or possibly have full control over anothers life controlling when, how and if they die! After watching the cutscene at the start of Die rise after Samuel dies Richtofen seems to revive him and (not sure if the other characters died or not) revive the other characters too! This could also lead on to why the characters keep experiencing déjà vu, constantly saying things like "have we been here before" at places such as the bank in tranzit and the end of the Die rise cutscene. This could also be why your points remain in the bank after dying and beginning a new game, this would also explain why the characters have met each other and know each other however they know so little about each other!
Just some food for thought.
