BW did something better than SM
Dungeons have healers located in a specific floor, you had to battle them and they will heal you unlimited amounts.
This way exploration was rewarded and checkpoints were created, this is also the case for shortcuts, where strength opened shortcuts for you as well as new paths
SM just gave up Rirrie chan and Hau healing you for breathing, and dungeons are not there, and the only "dungeon", vast poni canyon, used BW dungeon design.
The first 3 gens had stat boosts, but also had many perks and limitations that made them harder, for instance, resource management and dungeons can be frustrating, and some key items weren't handed to you, you were obligued to explore and learn how to sort things out, that's what made those games "harder", the player had to learn.
