Yeah I did notice that you were never too far away from a checkpoint whenever one happened, but like you said there are so many that it becomes a bit stressful in my opinion.
Yeah I get having a challenge of course but one hit is death for a game like this seems kind of ridiculous.
Oh. Not to mention the enemy placements are changed, placing harder enemies in early chapters, and not letting you NG+ it.
Mikami explained it as something people will have bragging rights to if they beat it.
I beat the mode.
But I don't feel like bragging that I can tolerate more bullshit than you.