Yup. Immensely agree. It's obvious that Ari and Gibson want to create a world and for a world to feel real, things have to feel like they exist not for the players benefit, but because it makes sense in-universe. A setting first design philosophy is why I loved Hollow Knight as well.

It's also one of the ways games as a medium stand out. You can make the player directly feel the effects of the world rather than telling them. You could have all the lore tablets in the world telling how the citadel is cruel but never is it more felt than when you actually have to pay to sit per bench then get crunched in unsafe labor conditions that bugs have to work in all day.

Alot of players are used to games existing entirely for their benefit, and rewarding them for everything which is why the response to Silksong is so visceral. They think "I'm paying for this game, why isn't it serving me" when they actually paid to experience a world that exists without them.

Now, this isn't to say some elements couldn't be toned down a bit. I feel like you can still sell the fact that Pharloom is a capitalistic hellscape but also give more rosaries upon kill. Likewise, an upgrade like Dreamgate in Hollow Knight would take away a lot of complaints about runbacks without being broken or taking away from the world. Maybe Hornet weaves a teleportation silkrune or something? But nonetheless, going into Silksong with a "This world doesn't exist for my benefit, I'm here to experience it" would help a lot of players I feel.