this game asks a lot of you, both mentally and physically, but pushing through to at least the standard ending is pretty rewarding. not every level or boss is a winner, having to use a currency to save is just unnecessarily punishing, the lives and checkpoint systems feel almost cruel if you aren't playing on something that allows you to use save states, but i think what does work REALLY works. don't feel bad for using save states your first playthrough (or even just in general lol), it's a game that honestly gets better the more you play it