Games

And most of the characteristic features of the general archetype are there to make it easier or are these sorts of iterative experiments towards fixing long running mechanical problems in games. Like how the "limited, but endlessly refreshing heals" part was a very successful experiment on how to stop the "I'm saving these limited healing items for when I really need them" problem that RPGs have, giving both a constant pressure of resource scarcity but also the complete freedom to use those resources when you like since you literally can neither hoard them nor really run out. Also lots of checkpoints, making sure boss attacks have clear telegraphs and consistent timings (matched to the rhythm of their encounter music, too), trying to make hitboxes actually match the visuals instead of just being "there's a big damage box around the entire space the boss moves in" like a lot of games do, giving the players lots of iframes to just not get hit at will, giving the option to just have a 100 damage reduction block if they want that instead, etc.

Like the things that most define it as a genre are all these nice little ways the game accommodates and empowers the player, so that then the level and enemy designers can dial up the difficulty in ways that aren't just the traditional "so everything's a sponge that one shots you" way that most games create "difficulty". Most of the complaints people have with them are mostly just cases of the devs either doing a poor job of it or chasing a very specific niche of escalating things to build off an earlier work as just "thing, but more!", the equivalent of like those nightmarish Kaizo ROMhacks for old SNES games like Mario and Metroid.