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.