Some of the fans give the impression that the game is cruel. Despite Miyazaki’s outright abuse kink as a design influence, nearly every From game offers so many tools for selecting a difficulty level you prefer, but it asks that you reflect on why you’re failing, engage with the game on its own terms, and be deliberate about your choices as a player. Some of the players have a crass or dishonest relationship with that carefully tunable difficulty, and they say “git gud”, even though the only interesting thing to say is how you personally did that, and the emotional moments and insights you may have gained along the way.
The main exception is Sekiro, which seems to have chosen to prioritise forcing you to mind meld with the protagonist in gameplay terms as a way of subjecting you to the emotions and themes of the story. It’s the one I’m having the most trouble getting into, but even having bounced off it twice I can already taste how amazing victory would be.