To me, G1 & 2 seemed inspired by 1990s style RPGs like Ultima, but with updated graphics (for their day) and 3D worlds. But the gothic games kept that vibe of "this world is dangerous." Contrast that to contemporary games where players are used to scaling and you can for the most part mow through areas without much difficulty. As much as I loved the Witcher 3, combat never seemed hard (on hardest difficulty). To me, early RPGs contrasted to contemporary ones are like comparing black and white movies from the 1940s to your latest blockbuster movie… generations are separated apart and the more time that goes by, the more that bridge between generations crumbles. I for one, never liked watching old black and white movies, though I'm told by those who love them I'm really missing out on a lot of great content…