(…)
May I draw your attention to a couple of in-game hints? Like for instance:
“Expect to lose some men”
“Not every contract is worth the risk”
“You don’t have to be a hero, you’re running a business”
Those are not meant to be random lines put there just to sound edgy. Those are meant to be hints and statements about what kind of game you are playing.
There are plenty of games where the player is meant to find satisfaction in becoming a superpowered superhuman superhero, effortlessly dispatching legions of enemies. Or those that call themselves “realistic” and allow you to be some edgy-as-f*** spec-op soldier with improbable aiming skills and magically regenrating health. Nothing wrong with that if that’s your cup of tea.
But well, guess what – BB is not that kind of game. It is meant to be more like games of yore, when you were supposed to put a lot of effort and restart many times before you succeeded. The odds are not stacked in your favor and that’s what’s making the victory meaningful and rewarding.
So no, the game is not “far too hard”, it is simply hard. And honestly that’s how I – and many others – like it.
I don’t feel like dissecting your entire post, but I’ve read it and for someone who claims to have a long experience with the game you are stating quite a lot of things that are simply untrue. Skeletons requiring “special weapons”? Like, lets see: swords, axes, maces, cleavers, flails, hammers? Basically anything that is not a spear, dagger or bow? I’d point your attention to the fact that at first you only face auxilliaries that can be killed even with a damned spearwall (after you’ve destroyed any armor they rarely have with a bow at 100% effectiveness), but someone who “finished the game many times on hard mode” (BTW, how do you “finish” an open-ended sandbox is beyond my humble understanding, but whatever) and “understands the combat fully” is probaby well aware of that. So I’ll just live it at that, though I really, REALLY could go on for quite a while.
Hope that you enjoy the game.
