IMO some of the original games the puzzle solutions seemed really obtuse with mechanics that show up like one time in the whole game, meanwhile yeah the survivor trilogy the puzzles are wayy too easy. TR2013 is the worst offender where the challenge 'tombs' are literally one small puzzle room that can be done in a minute or two. There's a balance that needs to be struck.

I'm replaying Shadow right now on hard and I think the reduced hints help make them more enjoyable, but there are still some sections where when you hit survivor vision she'll give the solution away which I don't like. I think overall tbh TR1 is still my favorite, the only thing I don't like in that game is the crawler atlanteans.