If you play on PC, use mods. Trust me… just use the damn mods. Life’s too short to be banging your head against the wall over and over again.
Returnal can be fun, worth playing, and has a great story to piece together. But it has some of the most git-gud toxic bullshit design choices I’ve ever seen from developers. Find a level of mod usage that gives you enough difficulty that you’re comfortable with.
Also, as an FPS player, I do not understand how anybody could play this game on controller. I ditched that shit about 30 minutes into it and immediately raised my skill level threefold with the mouse.