Artificial Difficulty and the Damage Sponge

Mechanics

Hard mode is a lie. We call it a challenge; it is usually just a spreadsheet adjustment. Why does a boss suddenly have ten times the health but the same three attacks? That is not a puzzle. It is a chore. True difficulty comes from AI that adapts or mechanics that force a pivot. Bloating health pools is the lazy way out. It pretends to be 'hardcore' while removing the tension of the fight. Once you find the loop, you just repeat it for twenty minutes. That is not skill. That is a test of patience. We have accepted statistical bloating as a substitute for actual game design. It is time to stop pretending that more health equals more depth. Where is the line for you between a legitimate mechanical challenge and a damage sponge that just wastes your time? Give me examples of games that actually got 'hard' right by changing behavior instead of just adding zeros to a health bar.