I dunno, the Souls games have done pretty well over the years 
But yes, they do have a learning curve and require a time investment.
It’s not for everyone, but it isn’t bad design at all.
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i mean it would help if moon would stop marketing it as a arpg, in reality it’s much more of a soulslike
It is an arpg, games like diablo/poe should be called loot simulator.
they should, but they’re not. those games are what i think of when i read arpg, even though “action role playing game” does a bad job of describing of them, its just what the term has come to mean, and nrftw definitely shouldn’t be in the same category.
Back in my day we called them hack & slashes.
The term ARPG arose just so people knew the games weren’t turn-based, specifically JRPGs. So yeah, ARPG means anything with character building and real time combat.
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on topic though i agree with OP, i hate how soulslike has become an excuse for not having diffculty settings, all the souls purists will just play at the hardest difficulty anyway, why not give people a little more options if they’re struggling?
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Because those people have an entire AAA gaming industry pandering to them.
Souls-likes are for a very specific niche of gamer.
Explaining why Souls don’t have difficulty settings, Miyazaki said something like ‘so that every player has the same experience’. It’s that experience that unites the playerbases of such games, and why they tend to defend them so rabidly.
"We don’t want to include a difficulty selection because we want to bring everyone to the same level of discussion and the same level of enjoyment,” Miyazaki said. “So we want everyone … to first face that challenge and to overcome it in some way that suits them as a player.”
“We want everyone to feel that sense of accomplishment. We want everyone to feel elated and to join that discussion on the same level. We feel if there’s different difficulties, that’s going to segment and fragment the user base. People will have different experiences based on that [differing difficulty level]. This is something we take to heart when we design games. It’s been the same way for previous titles and it’s very much the same with Sekiro.”
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i’m assuming there’s a significant chance if i criticize Miyazaki i’ll receive death threats… to heck with it, Miyazaki is wrong because sense of accomplishment is subjective based on individual ability. you can’t just throw the paraplegic kid in the swimming pool thinking it would belittle the achievements of the other kids if not everybody had to take the same swimming proficiency test.
Tough guy 
It’s supposed to be difficult, and that will make it that much more satisfying when you beat him! Like other people said, you can grind to level up, change your build around and bring consumables, and practice his fight jus lt fo using on dodging first (I recommend not wearing too heavy equipment so you can medium roll).
It was a joke. Mostly
His moveset doesn’t even change when he goes berserk meaning that if you aren’t lying and truly can get him to 60% health then you should be able to finish him off… but you don’t.
I absolutely suck at soulslikes, and was surprised that I was able to beat Warwick without it becoming frustrating. OP I’m assuming if you’ve refunded the game you’re possibly not looking for tips, but if anybody else is having trouble beating Warwick, here’s how I beat him.
First of all, make sure you’re in medium or light weight class. Heavy is probably doable, but rolling out the way of Warwick’s attacks is much tougher. Even if it means unequipping gloves or a helmet, remaining in medium more than makes up for slightly less protection.
Second, make sure you’ve leveled up a few times, and put points into either strength, stamina or carry weight. Almost all the starting weapons scale decently with strength, stamina will allow you to roll more, and carry weight will mean you can equip more gear without crossing into heavy class.
Third, cook as many healing items as you can. Resources respawn periodically so take as much time as you need. I would recommend 8-12 mushroom soups just to be on the safe side.
Fourth, DON’T USE THE CLAYMORE. It’s really tough to close distance and get a hit in on Warwick especially this early in the game. Blood-rusted sword is a good early-game alternative, but almost anything else will also do. Just avoid the claymore unless you have no other choice.
Finally, when actually facing Warwick, spend most of your energy dodging his attacks and healing when necessary. Be patient and wait for his openings, which are well telegraphed after his ‘stomp’ and charge attacks. Even then, conserve stamina. Just do one or two attacks and then dodge back out. Just keep chipping away at him, back off and heal when needed.
I hope this is helpful for anybody having trouble with him.
The reason for not dropping difficulty is that it’s artistic vision of how you should have played a game. The developers have created a great experience for you in one way that they have imagined and you have to either accept it or surrender. I belive it will stay like that and that you will have to change instead of crying in internet to change something else.
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