Current games are designed with the point of being interactive. Older games were designed with the point of being challenging. That's why a good portion of MMO's, gacha games, and open world affairs suck so much for me. Yes, there are ones that do it correctly, and yes, there is a niche for it and it can be satisfying in the right doses (I recently played every Assassin's Creed game in order up to Odyssey, that is NOT the right dose) but too many of them feel like busy work or real life simulations. Collect the right amount of x to make y so that you can carry more Q to make it easier to farm R. Buy these shops so you can buy armor for cheaper and pull more out of the bank. Log in precisely 12 hours apart and hit auto battle fourteen times to build up your in game currency so you don't have to spend your real currency keeping up with other players. Shit that feels more like a job with scheduled meetings.
Old games had the game aspect down. You're on the left of the screen. Get to the right of the screen without getting killed. Fit those blocks together before they reach the top of the screen. Get through this cavern with 6 potions, 2 mana potions and 45 HP. People's ideas of fun have gotten more streamlined, and the accepted ideas about what does and doesn't count as respecting/wasting the player's time has, too.
I'm not an Asian Starcraft player or someone who plays Bloodborne blindfolded and does no damage runs, but I have to say, very rarely do I ever see the game over screen in modern games (PS3 and on, basically) unless I'm tired and making mistakes, unless there are terrible frame drops, the game is poorly designed, or I have a poor understanding of how it's supposed to be played. Old school games were all about pattern recognition, memorization, reflex, and a little bit of luck. I feel like today difficulty modes are essentially
Anything below Normal
Just like Normal except enemies disintegrate the first time you hit them.
Normal
Designed so basically anyone can complete the main sequence of mandatory events.
Anything above Normal
Literally just swapping the levels around for how much health you and your opponents have/how much damage you and your opponents take from attacks.
There ARE some notable exceptions in the modern era to this. Capcom is usually on fire with their harder difficulties. RE7 and RE3R, Devil May Cry, etc. Metal Gear games usually felt like entirely different experiences due to the AI being a lot less forgiving on higher difficulties. Even Critical Mode on Kingdom Hearts II, which is probably the best way to play it.