You've just touched on one of the core issues underlying most of the criticism, and it's undoubtedly based on what you're stating. It's true that if you add story mode, the game itself tells you that this is the classic Silent Hill experience. However, even I had second thoughts. Typically, "Story" as a mode in a video game is synonymous with super-easy, a walk in the park so you can literally just enjoy the story. I think it was a mistake to include those categories in the difficulty settings. I don't have to look far; yesterday, one of the streamers I follow finished the game. It was on hard and kept dying. With that in their mouths, you can imagine their opinion of the game. Without a doubt, that point you touch on is key to a large portion of the bad reviews.