MisterDapper

Ironically, those last words should have been 'dumbed down'.

But it's not really about the difficulty, and more about the time investment. Some people don't have time to sit through even an easyish battle and want to get to the story and exploration - so it's useful for them to be able to just steamroll through.

It'd be boring to you, sure. I think I'd lose interest after a short while too. But my coworker is pretty happy about it, because it means they can get through the game quicker during their downtime on our night shifts.

Different folks are invested in different aspects I the game. And that's okay by me. I'll play how I want to, they can play how they want to, and everybody is happ- well mildly less miserable.

Nope. You're not allowed to enjoy it how you want to. Just the very knowledge of you enjoying the game at an easier setting somehow invalidates the experience for everyone else. And that's rude. So you should stop doing it.

Ignis only destroyed Ardyn's physical form. But Ardyn has power beyond the physical world. Hell, he managed to return after *Shiva*, one of the literal gods of that world, destroyed his physical form.

The ring granted Ignis power, at a terrible cost. More than it demands of the royal bloodline who pay a lesser toll by being bound to protect the Crystal (and even then, look how Noctis is constantly being torn apart and healing when he uses the ring in-game and how his father has aged so much faster than his companions).

That's why the Chosen King has to bring the power of the Lucii into the afterlife with him - to destroy Ardyn and the Starscourge for good. If literally anyone could do it, then it renders the whole point of awaiting the Chosen King completely moot.

At that point in the story, Ignis is the only other person aside from Ardyn and the other gods who knows about Noctis' fate and what it will take to destroy Ardyn completely.

You ask me, that alternate ending is actually not a defeat at all, but Ignis deliberately making the worst choice - the exact same one that led to Ravus' downfall, choosing love of family over everything. "This world means nothing to me... I refuse to let Noct sacrifice his life to save ours".

Ardyn knows this is only a temporary setback as well, he outright says that his revenge has only temporarily eluded him, but he will return. And sure enough, you see him in his corrupted form leaning over the throne of Lucis in the epilogue of the alternate ending.

The Starscourge still spreads, Ardyn remains as a force for evil, and likely Noctis never ends up fulfilling his destiny.

Ignis beating Ardyn is the worst alternate ending, and actually a defeat to the heroes as a whole.

I could believe it easily. The biggest part of how Deku succeeded wasn't being given a Quirk - it was his years of obsessive studying. His biggest strengths have always been his insights and quick analysis when it comes to the strengths and drawbacks of Quirks and his surprising ability as a tactician.