Buried in your argument is the assumption that people accused of virtue signalling are actually being virtuous. In many cases they’re actually just doing harm in order to appeal to their own tribe. This is virtue signalling and there’s nothing virtuous about it.

People who walk around calling everything woke are virtue-signalling to their right wing tribe, for example. It’s classic social bullying.

It is, but different people enjoy different things. Hard games like this focus on long term goals and achieving mastery as the source of fun. Other games aim to be more relaxing.

I like all types of games. I just think it’s a bit silly when people argue “why isn’t this orange more like a banana?”

I think the runback is important to give you time to think. You can repeatedly attempt a difficult section of a game with a ton of checkpoints and get through it without actually learning it properly. You essentially get lucky that your hands do the right thing just enough to get by.

Imagine going to a piano recital where the person keeps messing up and repeating a difficult passage of the music, never actually being able to play the entire thing without making a mistake! That’s just not very impressive!

The goal of playing a difficult game should be to improve your skills and get better, figure out new strategies and use them in battle, not merely reach the end.