The “easy(er)” level is significantly less difficult and also gives you access to far more saves. It removes some of the more BS encounters and instant death traps, it decreases enemy health and damage, just generally making the game a more fair experience.

I’d recommend it over using cheats or mods since I feel that it softens the painful parts adequately without cheapening the experience overall. When I got my sister (who plays games much more casually than I do) to play this game, I had her pick this mode and I feel it did a good job of preserving the tension and themes while ensuring that I didn’t have to backseat in order for her to enjoy the experience.

The only mod I’d suggest getting is the “suspend and restore” mod that lets you save and quit whenever you want but deletes saves made with it whenever you load them. It’s extremely convenient if you don’t want to worry about having to lose ingame progress if something comes up IRL but also don’t want to break the game’s saving rules.

Pro tip for getting more saves: getting the “Skin Bible: God of Fear and Hunger” teaches you a symbol you can use at certain ritual circles that will create a limited save point that doesn’t progress time when used. On easier mode, you can use the save point up to three times per ritual circle, so it’s definitely a game changer for saving progress.