There's a sub called /r/patientgaymer where they talk about avoiding hype and AAA Ubisoft slop, mostly because they are too poor.
One often slapfight inducing topic is difficulty, where boomer 
postwall gaymers lament their inability to have the same millisecond reaction time at the ripe old age of 31 vs their tween years, and how they enjoy gaymes on easy mode when their kiddies have finally gone to sleep or whatever.
Their natural enemies are the ultrastrags of Soulslike gaymers, where they have only one singular measure of worth in theri NEET 
lives - beating the most DIFFICULT games of all time!! Darksouls, the true value and bragging rights of a g*mer
Between the 2 groups the Soulshit cute twinks are the more obnoxious, any mention of easy and soul in the same sentence makes their eternal turbo g*mers lose their collective 
Soulshit isn't for p*ssies! It's a manly man's gayme! Any suggestion of future Soulshit having an easy mode for grandpa, even if modded is an affront to god.
Right anyways for todays 
https://old.reddit.com/r/patientg*mers/comments/15f70ao/the_absolute_joy_of_playing_games_on_easier/
Boomer gaymer says he enjoys easy mode, fights ensue
Most gaymer soy speech ever:
"We are always looking to improve, but, in our games specifically, hardship is what gives meaning to the experience. So it's not something we're willing to abandon at the moment. It's our identity." -Hidetaka Miyazaki
It's toxic AF to respect the developers vision for their own games? Criticize it all you want, but at least respect their artistic integrity. 
Defenders of Soulshit come forth!
Soulshit tantrums prove the guy right
RELEASE THE DOWNMARSEYS AGAINST THE HERETIC 
easy mode r*pes the integrity of the experience! or something
"There are untold hundreds, thousands of games with an easy mode, and people still find ways to throw shade at the handful that don't." wat 
"No, try criticizing a From Software game for excluding difficulty settings and you will quickly be downmarseyd." DIE B-WORD DIE
Dark souls has a target audience 
just like any other game and any given game isn't going to be able to cater to exactly everyone. Even the games with a variety of difficultly options, because that game even with difficulty options may just not be their thing. The point of dark souls is that it's difficult, that is the “experience” I HAVE SO LITTLE DIFFICULTY IN LIFE I NEED CHALLENGE IN MY ESCAPISM FRICK YOU
Difficulty settings is not something that should be forced on developers
What the frick are these losers talking about lmoa
Translation: 
my farts smell so good
@XY plz pin
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His one good point is that games predicated on difficulty shouldn't make you spend five minutes getting back to the challenge
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Which is something From fixed in later games, especially Elden Ring which pretty much always has a checkpoint (that you can teleport to and from, even to other places if the current one is too hard!) outside every boss battle.
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Nah plenty of older games were based on consistency the no life frequent checkpoint design of modern platformers means you can just bang your head at the wall until you get through vs something like old castlevainia where you had to get consistent at the levels (with the caveate being the levels being easier overall) there is a trade off between making super hard single screen challenges and making slightly easier challenges which require consistent mastery.
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There's a big difference though between a level of castlevania which is basically one long challenge, and the five minute walk back to the Bed of Chaos which isn't going to kill or damage you ever but is just a huge waste of time
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You are right but I will note that the "difficulty" of a Castlevania level is the whole level, and when you die you start right back at the beginning immediately. It's a good franchise!
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A good counter-example is Nier: Automata, which forces you to play through a piss-easy 5 minute intro and fight two bosses before you get to have a checkpoint in its 1hp mode. No idea what the game is like beyond that, got bored after a day of attempts.
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