The first demon defense fight is awful, awful, AWFUL design. For a game ending battle it would be okay. But for a fight 2% into the game. Utterly ridiculous. I can see that Owlcat still has no idea of what a fun challenge is. There are ENTIRELY too many enemies in this STUPID battle.
I've played far too long to return the game, but I'm hot right now. I have zero desire to fight this again. I went 22 rounds into it and they were still coming in waves and waves. For all I know, I''m halfway through this STUPID, STUPID battle.
I agree this is a very hard fight and my dogs got very upset when I first did it as I was yelling at my computer and hitting my desk and they think I was mad at them. That always calms down my temper lol.
That being said I really like this battle and think it is vital to the game and glad they have it, although I know your temper is hot and so probably don't want to read that.
I think it is important because its before your character becomes epic, a mythic player, and hence helps provide some contrast to future battles - which can also be just as hard (the gargoyles come to mind) - because at this stage you are sill a bit of a nobody who happens to show promise. You are a smaller cog working with everyone else to protect the home base. And I felt all the enemies really sent the message that this was a final stand and conveyed how dire the situation is.
I also like that it helps give the feeling of going from rock bottom to the top as you slowly move along in the game. This is that first big step, the first big fight, and hence important.
Another reason I think it is vital is it slams home the story - the city is taken over by demons, this is the last safe base, and it makes sense they would launch a major attack to take you down.
You can gain allies to help improve the odds but it is still very hard. I did it once on hard/fair difficulty with Lobo (my feral warpriest) in Beta. I wanted to know I could do it on equal standing with the enemy. It took me many tries and my best fight only got a moderate approval from Irabeth (versus a full victory).
Since I know I can do it, if I spend the time and effort, I did it this time on story telling mode and literally breezed through it. I had no desire at all to go through it again with the same character. I don't like stressing in a game.
Doing the same with Wulver, my Sacred Huntsman. In Beta he also did it on hard/fair difficulty and he got a full victory but he was a bit easier to manage than Lobo as he had his wolf and wasn't as directly in melee. When Wulver gets to it this time I will most likely lower it again.
I like knowing I can conquer something but once is really enough. There are also some fights I did in Beta I was just like, hell no and put it on easy mode
I play to have fun and if combat is stressing me I lower the difficulty.
Now and then I do get in the mood of "I am going to WIN this no matter what" and will put in a lot of time and usually I can do it on hard. But I have to be in the right mood.
Anyhow sorry it was frustrating. My only advice is to lower the difficulty and play on RtwP mode as it will be very fast and over with.
EDIT: Combat can wear me out at times so when I get tired with combat I will simply lower the difficult. I am one of those odd players that tends to get less enjoyment out of lots of combat in games. I like it for the story, the lore, the music, the companions, everything else. I also enjoy some combat but not like others do who see it as the main focus. So when in the mood for combat I tend to play on hard and when not in the mood I put it on easy.