When the PlayStation 5 launch lineup was announced, Sony's list of first-party titles included Astro's Playroom, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, and Demon's Souls. There were other games as well, but these were the big hits since they were exclusive to Sony consoles.

I checked out Demon's Souls, tempted. An action-RPG, it looked great. Who could resist traversing strange lands and hacking and slashing enemies? It looked beautiful, too—a true reflection of what the next generation has to offer, even if it is technically a "simple" remaster of a PlayStation 3 game.

PlayStation 5 games aren’t cheap, and peer pressure made me buy them, but I didn’t. You know why? It’s so hard that I just don’t have the patience for it, and I know it. Call me a wimp if you want, but bear with me: I’ll explain why it’s okay in the eyes of other gamers, and why Demon’s Souls will still be tempting.

I have been gaming for about 30 years now. I remember the days when many titles were nearly unbeatable and required a lot of patience from me as a kid and any adult who tried. Games on home computers like the Commodore 64 or early consoles like the NES were not forgiving. Battletoads is still considered one of the most challenging games out there, and that was aimed at a relatively young and inexperienced audience on the NES.