I had a lot of fun with Control but the narrative fell flat for me. It got to the point where I didn’t really care why I was running around and killing things anymore, I was just having fun doing it. Same for Alan Wake 1 for that matter. Was definitely invested in Max Payne 1-3 however.
For a game that made me break my own rules? I have been getting into more difficult games for a while, and Elden Ring was the one that started that a few years back. The deaths less frustrating as I learned not to just swing wildly as actually learn enemy moves and use dodge and parry effectively. After beating Elden Ring, making my way through most of Returnal, Bloodborne, beating a handful of other difficult games and rising to the challenge I was starting to “get it”.
Until Dead Cells. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t translate that same strategy to 2D. I got far but found myself really spinning my tires after a while, then had to use assist after I got stuck, and my prior strategy of “leave it, come back later when you’re less frustrated” didn’t work several times in a row, but I really enjoyed the gameplay. I too had to use the assist mode for this one. It was just too difficult and I couldn’t get my head around it in 2D.
I think I blame my lack of experience with Metroidvanias. I never took to them, and though I played a lot of side scrollers, it’s a different, but similar, set of skills.