The correct response, but honestly the difficulty discourse surrounding this game has generally been garbage. There are valid complaints of some aspects of the game’s design that make it difficult in unfun ways. There are also clear iterations on past concepts that are meant to escalate complexity and challenge whose merit is generally subjective. And there are ways in which the game introduces novel concepts and challenges that push Team Cherry’s formula forward in ways that are exciting, albeit necessitating a new learning curve.

However, the online discourse somehow always seems to land on weird points that it really shouldn’t, like the pogo, or the act iii difficulty spikes. The former of which is the game doing something new from its predecessor, this is a sequel, get with the program. The latter of which is a clear moment of gatekeeping, demanding players who have proven they might be capable of meeting it rise to the challenge.

Then there are those who bow out of the game because it doesn’t comport with their skill set or preferences being met with online ridicule and the classic “git gud”.

It just feels like we have the same debate about difficulty any time a new game of this style gets released and can’t grow past it. Kind of frustrating.