First things first, dark souls really isn't relevant here. It is an absolutely excellent game series that is difficult by construction, but its existence is not some unassailable rule about game difficulty or design in general. There really isn't a whole lot of overlap mechanically between this game to dark souls other than using gems from monsters to get stronger. This game is nowhere near as mechanically complex as dark souls and that is ok.
In truth, you and many others want the game to be difficult, and I understand and agree that hard mode should be difficult. The objections I personally (and many others) raise relate to elements of the game design that make things unfair for no productive reason (e.g. things that kill you that you have little to no opportunity to notice or react to before you die). These include things like instant death pits that are certainly challenging, but if you take a step back and think about it, aren't really fun as much as annoying. Sure, one could sit there and say 'git gud', but many of us would much rather actually enjoy the little free time we have.
Take the mega-goblin boss for example. The key to winning this fight is very quickly becoming very good at parrying: a skill you have absolutely no practical need for in any difficulty before this point. A simple game design change that would make this boss more fun and less frustrating would be adding an element to the preceding level that forced you to learn to parry. You could do this by making the shield goblins more effective at blocking. Instead, someone playing hard difficulty will get to that boss and die over and over again having developed no skills for handling that threat. You might call that difficulty, but I would call it poor design.
Then there are my personal favorite: enemies that can juggle you to death (one example being the mega-goblins spin attack). There is a very important reasons combat games have i-frames, and that is because players don't enjoy watching an entire health bar deplete while they helplessly watch. Solution? Exactly what they did with the grim reaper boss. Clearly show the player that they have to dodge everything perfectly rather than making it a game of random numbers that the boss will do one move that you can't escape. Both are challenging, but one builds anticipation rather than frustration.
I am not suggesting that hardmode be nerfed as a whole. Indeed, I think the normal difficulty should be harder! What I am suggesting that some minor things that can be easily changed (moves, enemy AI, minor level design, etc) be changed to remove unnecessary frustration.
Finally, I hope everyone understands that 'but I like it hard' is the least helpful response when someone requests that something be changed. Not everyone wants to suffer, and those that do really don't benefit from that response anyway. Instead, maybe tell them how you did it and why it was more fun to do it that way!
This type of thinking is very acceptable, and I believe it's true that a game isn't designed so well if it hasn't let you experience 'the basics' of game play before throwing you into it..
That said, the game lets you unlock skills and if you never even try the skill you unlocked.. that is kind of on you as a player.. when I unlocked parry, I played around with it.. same as the other skills I unlocked.. I guess I don't understand why someone would unlock a skill and never even try it? I'm not meaning anything other than that.. I really don't understand a player that would do that.
and I also think Dark Souls has no bearing in this thread just as you think so.. I only mentioned it because you and others have.. and yes, I do know that you mentioned it for that exact same reason(or at least I can logically assume this based on context.. but still, I could be wrong.)
I will only mention it one more time in a nicer way.. In the Dark Souls community, there are the ppl who only say 'git gud' and that is the cancerous side of it, but there are more ppl that.. IF a person comes with an actually question that comes from a perspective of a person that is truly wanting help and to learn.. many times there will be ppl in the threads that will give VERY good advice and are VERY willing to help. I, as you seem to be, appreciate this kind of cooperation of a community.. this very thing is the reason humans have survived and thrived, and that is why I do appreciate it to that degree.. since it's a mirror-image of civilization as a whole.. or humans in jolly cooperation (heh
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Fun though is in the eye of the beholder, as is beauty and a lot of other things in life..
so what is annoying to some is just a challenge to others.. both are fine, absolutely!
and I feel like Normal difficulty should be the more accessible difficulty.. and, IF ppl want to play the game as a super casual person (which is fine btw) then they should pick an even lower difficulty.. easy or whatever.. some games even have a 'Story' difficulty now.. that basically makes you invincible to a good degree..
stun-lock is a bad game design, unless you create a way for the player to deal with it.. but other players will use the stun-lock stuff against bosses and normal enemies in some games.. on this game, I don't think you can do that against bosses so easily though..
I actually have seen ppl give good advice on dealing with the bosses in this game while reading this thread, so I believe the ppl here are doing well together and sharing well.. there are only a few ppl that are only saying 'git gud'(perhaps in other words though.. but essentially the same) and I have seen actual real constructive criticism from a few ppl(you are included)..
And it's all very good, I just don't want to see this game become a pathetic game eventually and from what ppl have said, some are trying to bother the Dev in the wrong ways.. I hope he is intelligent enough to keep his vision of the game as it was when he thought of it while creating it..
I also think there are things to fix, one definitely being that thing you mentioned about not forcing the player to use a skill until a boss appears.. and then the player doesn't know how to beat the boss because he/she never used the skill..
The player should have to use the skill and I don't know.. maybe the game should give tips on death of the player..
For example: you die and it tells you that maybe you should get the parry skill if you haven't.. that's a good hint possibly to get the skill and learn it..
Anyways, I think you probably believe you disagree with a lot.. but I think we view many things the same actually(or close)
