In my opinion, there has to be a point where you're so beefed up that you can easily take on most dangers in a world. I can compare that to playing Dying Light, where at the beginning i was running from everything at night like a little child, but near the end i slapped almost everything i came across, even at night (yet still mistakes cost me death, so it's not like i was invincible).
That's the feeling that needs to be enhanced in my opinion. A few of the games in 7DTD i played had that feeling, especially in A15/16 where i went down the knife road (the glory of beheading every zombie around me with a machete during horde night...).
In A18 i have a similar (yet smaller still) feel in regular combat and exploration, where i can stealthily take a few sleepers with my Comp.Bow and sometimes Machete, yet greenies and Horde Night are still something to be wary of. I'm still in the process of maxing my equipment to the highest level, as well as my perks (AGI 8/10 and battle skills at 4/5), not to mention gathering more books to have more in-fight bonuses. Nonetheless, i think i can stand my ground pretty well for the time being and the game can be hard if it wants to be.