Ask for the shape of the challenge.

Nothing but boss fights, each a bullet hell and a duel at once. Phases checkpoint until the late ones, which do not.

Parry-first combat with windows tight enough that blocking on reflex fails and blocking on rhythm works.

Each boss is a fixed piece of choreography that you learn by dying to its second phase forty consecutive times.

The EMMI zones are one-hit deaths with a counter window measured in frames, and the bosses expect dodges on reaction rather than pattern.

There is no block button — parrying is a direction plus an attack, aimed at the incoming blow, and the game tells you this once and then assumes it.

Instant death in both directions and an instant restart. The difficulty is entirely in how quickly you commit to a floor plan you have already memorised.

NES difficulty with modern checkpoints — and you can smash the checkpoints for gold, which is the game’s whole attitude in one mechanic.

One hit kills you and one hit kills them, and the retry is instant. Each room is a plan you rehearse at speed, not an endurance test.

One hit kills, restarts land in under a second, and momentum is mandatory — stopping to think is usually the thing that kills you.

One input, no health, and no checkpoints outside practice — a level is a single unbroken performance, so failing at ninety-eight percent costs exactly as much as failing at two.