"Gamers" from the arcade days expected hard and brutal games. After all a hard game used less time and generated more cash for the game programmers and gamers got a sense of accomplishment from how long they could play on one quarter. Let's call these first generation gamers.

Then console type games came out. You bought the system and paid for the cartridge and could play as long as you wanted for no extra cost. That made those games more accessible to more people and if a game was too "brutal" resulted in less sales to people that weren't hard core gamers so game companies started making them a little easier to entice the new players while still holding on to their hard core base of players. These would be second generation gamers.

Then computers became inexpensive enough that buying one and using it for game programs became even more cost effective and since the computer could be used for more than games, gaming culture added more casual players that decided they were gamers. This resulted in more games of lower difficulty for the same reasons as above and third and fourth generation gamers.

Today's smart phones are more of a computer than gaming rigs from 20 years ago and the advent of the internet means that we have gone from text to video and and interactive games to RTS an idle games and even more (and younger) players are playing and the even more casual gamers are looking for more of an interactive movie experience (click the right buttons in the right order and watch a pretty cut scene) and less of a gaming experience involving skill. That's why some people watch stearmers on twitch. To them its just watching a free movie but it can have different endings depending on who is streaming. These are 5th or maybe even sixth generation gamers.

Demand for hard games have gone down even more. That's why there was an outcry from the "gaming community" when Elden Ring was released and had no difficulty sliders. It appealed to the hard core first and second generation gamer groups and most other groups that now call themselves gamers believed it to be "too hard" while OG folks like me consider it to be "just right".

A brutal game has changed definitions over the years. This is the viewpoint of an old time gamer (me) and what I saw change through my life time. I started out programming computers using punch cards and key punch but here is where we are now. I liked the old "brutal" games but age and physical damage over the years means I have to be content with games that are easier than when I was younger.

As damaged as I am (stroke caused visual impairment and motor control issues) I have been able to complete every part of the game so far except mistlands (which I am still working on).

All that said I would rate Valheim as a third generation game as far as difficulty goes. Which first generation gamers might consider one step above casual and 6th genreation gamers consider brutal.

That would be my take on the OP.