i haven't played vanilla in a very long time but everytime i play through sotfs there are so many areas which exist just to piss me off, gank fests of loads of high agro range enemies which leaves me just clearing the area out permanently to get through it properly.
Thing is in my vague memory of vanilla I don't remember any such area causing me much aggravation. I actually remember the game being pretty easy.
Ended up buying vanilla just so I can see if sotfs is actually just designed by a crazy person because the game just feels like a slog to play between eathen peak and iron keep. I'm struggling to think what part of sotfs is actually an improvement.
SOTFS.
I know a lot of people dislike the enemy placement (the run up to smelter demon is a shitshow that gets worse every NG+ cycle), but I personally prefer its item placement, improved lighting, and the new quirks added to the AI of some bosses and enemies. I think the hitboxes a bit less messy as well but I haven't gone deep into the weeds to check.