Yeah, most times it's all about the initial setup. I wouldn't say it always ends up being a cakewalk, though, but having access to more equipment and gears opens the way to many exploits for sure. Old games could balance it out more easily because of the restrictions imposed to items and collectibles, so it was easier for them to manage them all (all NES Mega Man games had around 8 weapons available, so it was just a matter of setting the enemies' weakness and resistance to them properly), but nowadays, especially with RPGs, this has gotten way too complicated.