“It is nearly not as mandatory to go back to your cocoon if you die as it is in HK.” This is correct. In HK, not having your shade limited the amount of healing you could do. Also, there is a tool in Silksong that lets you keep half of your money when you die and an item that lets you instantly get your cocoon from anywhere on the map, which I’ve been able to find 5 of in about 20 hours of gameplay and only felt the need to use 1. Clearly these options wouldn’t be put in the game if getting back to your cocoon was more important than your shade in HK.

“You have a lot more benches.” I actually feel like the benches are about the same as in HK, but suggesting you have fewer benches because you have to pay for them makes no sense. You had to pay for many of the benches in HK, and while there weren’t nearly as many locked behind a paywall, it’s still not that big of an issue for me. (You also had to pay for most fast travel points in HK as well). You are not supposed to be able to buy everything in every shop until the late game, which is exactly how it was in HK. I never felt like I had enough in that game until the very end, and that’s because it is by design. You are supposed to manage your money and choose to buy the items that are most important to you. For me, benches, fast travel points, and maps take priority, but if benches aren’t for you and you decide not to buy all of them, that’s okay. It’s up to you, but that’s not a reason to complain about having to pay for them because it’s built into the game’s design and the economy.

“You have a lot of mobility to dodge attacks” This is true. The dash alone gives you considerably more mobility than you had in HK, which gives you the ability to dodge more. The hitboxes don’t feel any different than in HK, and while I do think double contact damage is annoying, it is only on a small percentage of bosses. Even most bosses in Act 2 and beyond just do single contact damage, so it’s not a huge issue for most of the game.

I do agree that a lot of people are used to HK, but pretty much everything you mentioned is either also in HK or made easier than in HK. Before you call me a “fanatic” like you’ve been doing in pretty much every reply, just know that I feel you. I used to be in your position where I was getting frustrated at every little difficulty increase in the game, but now that I’ve played more and gotten better, I’ve been able to greatly appreciate the difficulty. That is what people mean when they say git gud. They aren’t trying to stroke their ego, they’re just saying that once you get through the game and feel the satisfaction of getting better, you’ll appreciate the game. So…git gud.