The question of difficulty came to mind while playing Metaphor. It was pretty challenging early on when resources were very limited and I was also learning the gameplay systems, but I’m starting to feel powerful now mid-game (while still being challenged a bit). That’s where I like to end up, typically. It has a nice ludonarrative feel for the games that typically have you killing god.
What do you like?
I should not have to grind to beat the main campaign. Enemy encounters and XP should be balanced so that I won’t be underleveled as long as I don’t skip fights and won’t be over leveled as long as I don’t grind. Save the hard stuff for optional dungeons and quests.
Likewise enemy weaknesses and puzzle solutions should be solvable with in game resources that are not hidden from the player. I should not need a guide, and should not have to check 1,000 in game tomes to find a secret password. Again optional stuff, secret best gear, etc. are fair game.