Recs.
Updated
Salt and Sanctuary is a difficult (by design) 2D platforming RPG, falling in line (mostly) with the metroidvania genre.
(The included video was captured on a PS4, but the same operation is required on the PC to enable couch co-op.)
This is a dark and brutal game that has many similarities to the Dark Souls series of games. It features difficult combat that utilizes rolling to get out of enemies ways as well as large boss fights that can take up whole stages. It's set in a dark and grim world that sees the player battling their way through the forgotten nightmares of man.
Specs
Pros
Pro You can make a character that fits your playstyle
Your character has a large skill tree with many branching paths. It contains most abilities you see in a fantasy game, including spells, martial arts moves, and many others. This means you can make a fast mage, a bulky fighter, a mix of the two, or whatever fits your playstyle, making it a more enjoyable experience as a whole.
Pro Deep combat
While the combat may seem simple at first, it's actually quite diverse. A lot of it depends on your equipment, where the weight and reach affects how you can play.
For example, heavy armor will make you slower, but you'll be able to take more hits. This enables a safer playstyle, where you're allowed to make more mistakes. Large weapons have a better reach, but swing slower, so you'll need to have good timing to combat enemies effectively.
During combat, you'll be alternating between a light attack and a hard attack. These can charged to alter the timing and increase the damage of each swing, allowing you to perform very varied combos.
As a result the combat stays exciting for the entirety of the game.