at least in Dolphin the final level (which has multiple timed segements and no checkpoints) can a just put you under the map and then you get to play it again
they're doing some interesting stuff, the levels are varied and pretty, the "combat" is nonviolent and novel, though imo the difficulty curve is too steep at times and in my opinion they could've made it a bit easier, especially some of the time limits tacked onto things.
Also grinding cookies by kicking anything in the level (which is mandatory, you need them to buy stronger attacks) is frustrating bc they bounce all over and despawn quickly.
In general the game's walk speed is infuriating and for some reason taking damage first makes you slower, then speeds you up when you only have one hit left. Since putting distance between you and an enemy is how you give yourself time to actually do the combat that is just random extra frustration. And the main gameplay outside of combat is mostly backtracking distances that would be fine at normal video game walk speeds
Also all the boss fights are a normal enemy but three times. Literally. It's usually the first time the enemy appears but like, three times in a row?
And you need to buy new attacks, there is literally a character that is a gate that blocks you if you didn't buy the new attack. They could've done a thing where you could beat the entire game on the base attack but grinding for stronger ones makes it easier, I guess they had limited time bc I'm pretty sure all combat difficulty is hardcoded
I just gave up after dying to the final boss lmao