Don't know much about this game, but as I know it there are difficulty options to choose from.

Would changing the difficulty dramatically alter the run?

Enemies have reduced HP Staggered enemies take more damage Doom counter gives more time Common drop chance increased Rare drop chance decreased

then i don't know much about easy :p

So the console English release doesn't have difficulty options, apparently the JP version does, as well as PC. It would definitely be faster, though some fights might need new strats (I'm told you stagger some things almost uncomfortably fast). So it would definitely be a new category, but no one seems to want to route it so far.

It seems like you'd lose time at the start of the game, then make it all back (and a lot more) by the end with how fast some enemies are staggered. Although I have never played Easy Mode, so I wouldn't know for definite