[ricree]

>The game's legendary difficulty is entirely due to the impenetrability of its user interface and systems.

It's also a cultural legacy left over from early versions that were more challenging but less open ended simulations.

In particular, farming required setting up an irrigation system, which required exposing your fortress to a river that occasionally spawned hostile creatures which would disrupt farming. Coupled with winters where farms went fallow, it was much easier to lose a fortress for want of basics.

Additionally, there was a progression involved where access to better metals meant digging deeper and exposing yourself to additional hazards generated from fratures deeper inside the mountain.

Most of these dangers went away in the newer system, and what other dangers were added can often be avoided more easily.

With that said, the older versions also had a lot less replayability. Once you knew what you were doing, each fortress mostly played out the same, but it did make for better progression for someone new looking for a challenge.