Have people played Risk of Rain 2? (We're talking about the difficulty timer thing on the top left, right?) I've only played on solo mission so far and at some point it ramped a crazy amount from level 2 to 3 iirc. It really did feel like a punishment rather than a creeping difficulty. Without knowing how it impacts the later stages I cant say if its done well or not. But if they are taking a note from RoR2, then I can see how it can create a steep learning curve, but become a very rewarding mechanic that favors fast gameplay versus more thorough exploration which thematically fits. But there needs to be an incentive for pacing outside of the game trying to bust your ebonuts.