It’s not so much that it was difficult, it’s that it felt a bit more unfair than BotW. It seemed like the regular grunts (Bokoblins etc.) were far tougher than they needed to be. Every single encampment of them would have a few silver ones and they’re just damage sponges - you just get through all your weapons just clearing out a small camp. Even the master sword felt like it used up a whole charge just taking out a few of those buggers. I shouldn’t have to completely rebuild and restock my weapon arsenal every time I clear out a small camp of fodder.
The game itself didn’t really feel much harder than BotW though. It’s just all these little encounters that annoyed me.
I don’t really think there are ‘series’ in the Mario saga. There’s basically two streams of Mario game that have co-existed since Mario 64 - the 2D games and the 3D games.
Mario Wonder is the best 2D one I’ve played in years. Right back to SNES Mario World.
I’m more than happy to have more 2D ones like this.