The original title didn't help much either, though the title does not stop people from actually reading the post before replying.
(Cuphead is too hard?)

I would have to be a fool for not anticipating this response.
I do not consider myself a fool.

As long as people are having fun, I will remain unharmed.

Controls are perfectly fine, once lock and shoot are remapped from default mapping.

They are like Contra 3s or many other retro games. There is a difficulty in adapting and conquering the controls. I was recently playing the indie game RIVE which has twin-stick controls as you describe. It does make it a different game though. Like letting Mega Man shoot diagonally.

You could argue controls should empower the user as much as possible as long as it isn't playing the game for you, as with auto aim, but learning how to adapt to limited controls is a legit aspect of difficulty to my mind.

Going from one face button to another in a fraction of a second by gliding your thumb one centimiter is the definition of "less so." Clunky is not at all at the core of gaming.

So long as you can edit the controls, the default layout being not great is merely an annoyance, a sideline in a review. I always have to assign Dash to RB in Mega Man X games because otherwise I'm not sure how people shoot whilst dash-jumping off walls. The inability to remap controls in a game like this is why I was so frustrated with Flinthook (though they added in a twin stick control variant after I beat it).

The 8-way directional firing seems intentional - Cuphead's supposed to look like an old cartoon and play like an old game.

Controls are tight as can be. My daughter played it for the first time on Sunday and was on the second third of it within an hour. You want right analog shooting (cool for flying stages, I guess) but with all of the dashing and jumping, I don't see how it would work.

Just buy the spread "gun" or the seeker and enjoy.

The controls are fine and if you don't like it you can customize it.

Controls are great. And I'm playing it with a PS2 controller.

Meh. To me, the above comments seem more like insults than "jokes" (or maybe just poor jokes) but whatever. If the OP doesn't mind, then sure.

Same here. After you get the hang of the game its pretty clear that the control scheme is downright perfect. Hell, you can remap pretty much anything.