there's a neverending cyclical discourse in the fighting game community. "games are easier now." "they keep dumbing fighters down." "how come they never simplify other games?" (they do, by the way, even if the gradual nature doesn't generally feel as dramatic as when a brand new installment of a fighting series drops)
i don't even really disagree with some of these sentiments in theory. it's harder for new stuff to really grab my attention as something i'm excited to play, compete in, or practice a lot. i don't really know if that's because they're "easier" (i'd say i'd probably rather play guilty gear strive than rev 2, and certainly kof 15 over 13, sorry trumpet), i think i'm just in a place where i'm trying to figure out where i'm at with things overall, but i can still recognize what it feels like when new stuff just doesn't have the same magic for you. and overwhelmingly i'd say that stuff like strive and sf6 benefit from a combination of way bigger marketing efforts and the long-term buildup of the scene more than being "easier" than previous generations of games by the same developers. but i think a lot of this quickly turns to a kind of resentment, or the idea that fighting game players are the truest, most serious of competitors.
"in fighting games, you can't blame your teammates if you lose."