The difference between Difficult and Unfair

I like Ys a lot
too much.

This past week has been incredibly stupid and stressful, so i wanted to play some Ys3 to kind of unwind because it's really fun.
however i beat it on Normal on PSP and Hard on PC... i didn't see the point in replaying it on hard but i didn't have much confidence for tackling it on nightmare.
I do not enjoy difficult games... I like challenge but i hate feeling utterly defeated or having that feeling of wanting to walk away... still i figured maybe this will be the one time i push myself and accomplish something (albeit on an extremely small scale) that i didn't think i could do.
So i started it on nightmare...
and honestly it wasn't going too bad... the bosses were a little faster (though not nearly as quick as their psp counterparts) and had a lot more health and it took longer to level up but i was beating bosses within a few tries... hell to grind for the abandoned mine boss i skipped ahead to the eldern mountain since i knew from past playing experiences that as well as better XP they also drop a lot of money so i could buy better equips.
Slight tangent... this past week i spoke to three completely unrelated people and they all said the same thing and it baffled me.
"wow i'm surprised you did that considering how unfair Ys games are"
Difficult? hell yes... but honestly in all my years (ok i've only been playing since like... 2006  but still) of playing Ys games i have never thought they were unfair (ignoring the time i threw my DS at my bed because of that stupid final boss in Ys 2.... and the time i threw a controller in the trails of Alma because that longjump was bullshit)

I think i understand what they are saying now.
I don't remember having this much trouble with this boss before...
I remember Chester being the "oh wow i don't wanna play anymore" boss of the game (well the final boss is kinda crazy too)
I cannot beat this stupid ice dragon.
I know the pattern, i know how to dodge his attacks (assuming he doesn't hit me with Ice before the battle even starts) I know his weakness but i can't beat it.
Not because i don't have the skill, at least i think i have the skill to beat it... i'm also 3 levels above where i have seen every other guild suggest...
This boss does 50 dmg per hit... and it can hit you many time in a row without you being able to get out of the way... and my health is only like 267... and the only place you can really damage is his head... you have to attack his legs without getting hit (which isn't too hard considering the move you attack him with shields you) but he constantly pushed you back and makes it seemingly impossible to do what needs to be done to beat him,.
I have come close and i just feel my heart break every time i lose because i don't feel like i'm messing up... when i get it it feels unfair damn near every time

This is probably my limit... i may never beat this boss and thats okay... i have beaten this game on hard and that was more then i ever figured... but yeah it's neat knowing what people mean when they say it's unfair... cause in this case yeah it completely is...
but i still love Ys even if i can't beat it on nightmare... it just makes me a little sad that i'm limited this way