Oh, you're right. I trained myself not to do that from Demon's, so I kinda forgot about Oswald.

You can achieve something like that also with Dark Souls on PC thanks, once again, to DSFix and his auto-backup feature.

However, that will only helps if you do some major screw-up, like killing the wrong NPC or the like... the way the game is designed, unless you are the Death incarnated (or you cheat) is very likely that you will do multiple boss tries, you'll need to backtrack to previous zones to reach vendors and stuff.
If you can't deal with that, don't bother...
... the f****g Capra Demon

For me, the bridge wyvern was fine, since you have to deal with her only if you want to (there is an easy, intentionally put, shortcut), and the curse frogs where no issue either, they are easily dispatched, and i've never been cursed even without resistant gear.

But the damned Capra Demon drove me nuts with my first character (i think i needed more than 20 tries, always dying within 2 seconds of entering the fog), and it was the only time that i've thought "that is unfair"
Anyway i got bloody revenge with my second char, got him and the 2nd try...

I'll will write a bit more later, but if you play the game as designed, It isn't unfair. The problem so far with the game is less the difficulty, but the lack of crucial information. Eg. it gives you the most important Boss fighting advice AFTER fighting two Bosses.

Even more that that, it gives you almost no information about other mechanics like how the weapon upgrades actually works and things like that...
I've never played any other From game in the past, so I did a bit of homework before buying the game, because i was worried about a possible frustrating experience, and now i'm glad i did, because i'm loving it
I feel that having access to some wiki helps immensely in making the game more enjoable, and you don't need to spoiling anything if you don't want to, just to help with core mechanics.

For example, i think this page is crucial; also, this one, even without reading the actual walkthrough, gives you an invaluable hint for a smooth progression just by looking at the proposed order of zones.

I was more thinking that the first time the bridge dragon appears, there's not really much chance to avoid his fire if you don't know he's coming. And yeah, the Capra Demon is pretty tricky. Trick is to move in circles around the arena and try to take out the dogs first. He actually used to be harder, they nerfed him. The Curse Frogs are easy to deal with, I only mark them as unfair because their curse can stack, which can basically doom you forever.

And as for info, yeah, I agree. I definitely don't think there's anything wrong with using a wiki for this game.

I don't want state saves because in case of major screw ups (altough that's usefull too) it's because I don't enjoy fighting a hard boss or avoiding some trap section and realizing if I lose now I'll have to beat the entire level again before I can try this again.

For me it's a cheap way to increase play time.

Glad to hear you like it a bit more Simon. It's a great game, once you get past some nuisances (like the lack of information).

It grows in you though.

Luckily, i think curses do not stack anymore after the last patch (which was already included in the initial PC release)

I think he is more fair now, certainly more than he was when they first released it on console. He's easier to get past so you don't get stuck in the entrance as often. He's not really all that hard to deal with, it's just you go into the fight cornered by him and those two dogs.

For the most part, the maps here have a smart layout so that during the level or even right before the bosses, you have a a nearby bonfire or you can unlock shortcut to a different zone with a nearby bonfire
In case of failure, you won't need to repeat the whole level, just a comparatively small part
Yeah, and indeed my second toon, with a DEX based build and low burden, got stuck on the 1st try, but got past him clean on the 2nd, and after that the rest of the fight was cake.

With my first char however, armored cleric with medium burden, i think i needed to die a half-dozen times only to get a look at the room layout past the fog...
the unfair bit here is not that you are in a very tight environment, it's just that you have so little time to look at where you are/who is there, that is almost impossible to beat him on your very first encounter, while all the other bosses are potentially doable from scratch with a bit of luck+smart play.

Yes I can confirm that curses don't stack anymore, I was cursed twice in The Great Hollow and stayed at 50% health....still, fuck that area.

Ah, okay, that's less stupid then. Heh, the Great Hollow. It's all worth it because Ash Lake is cool.

I really don't know where my love/hate relationship with this game is headed. The artificially drawn out checkpoints are a real turn off. Otherwise this is great. Whoever combined those with the clumsy combat mechanic and bottomless pits EVERYWHERE. should really be hanged.

Out of curiosity, how far are you? You're talking about pits everywhere, so are you at Blighttown yet? Good to hear it has grown on you from your intial impression at least, though. :)

So how would you fix the "Clunky" Combat?