>>29796347It's harder with exp share than gen 6 was with exp share, because the scaling stops you from getting too over leveled.
It's easier without exp share than gen 6 was without exp share, because the scaling also stops you from getting under leveled.
Totem Battles have some nice tricks to them, but they're still stupid. Totem Wishiwashi hit my kadabra with Soak, giving it a resistance to water attacks and making the battle trivial.
I think the hardest thing comes from the fact that you don't have access to a lot of good pokemon in the early game.