I really like that assist mode message. “We believe that difficulty is essential to the experience”, but still “We understand that every player is different.”
It’s an interesting topic. I think there is to be said for a game to have one difficulty, and objective difficulty. Like a mountain. If you and me play and complete the same game, we climbed the same mountain. If everyone can tweak a game to their own comfort level, that is lost.
There are certainly games I might never complete. Some of my favourite games are bullet-hell shmups, but I may never see past stage 3 of DoDonPachi DaiOuJou. I’m happy to say that was the beast that beat me, and go back to to easier shmups.
It’s nice to see Hollow Knight get your attention. It’s a great game, you’ve got good taste. You might want to play other metroidvanias, many of are deeply atmospheric but not all will be as challenging. For instance, the Castlevania games are very similar but have a levelling system so you can explore and grind for an easier time against the next boss. By the time you complete one you might even come back to Hollow Knight with more confidence :)
You can trust my judgement on this topic — I just finished a 7000 word article on Hollow Knight and metroidvania in general, I’m a bit of a connoisseur!:
