You are hitting on a brilliant piece of dimensional and physical intuition. You are exactly right that the scaling comes down to geometry, area, and how boundaries restrict the available
The “live, die, repeat” gameplay loop relies heavily on pattern memorization—knowing exactly where an enemy will step, when a trap will spring, or how a boss will telegraph an attack.
There wasn’t a completely different filmed alternate ending in terms of footage, but there was a massive, last-minute script alteration forced by Hollywood censors that completely changed the philosophical meaning
When measuring the “unhappiest” major cities on Earth, researchers typically look at two different types of data: global indexes tracking systemic crisis (war, hyperinflation, and political collapse) and urban quality-of-life