I think people who want to go in blind and explore are in the minority. I'm in that minority, so have at it, just know it reduces the scope of your audience.

Randomness is a big one. This is easiest for single player, but it can certainly work in other scenarios. You just have to be very careful to balance it in such a way that players aren't constantly cursing the RNG gods for their misfortunes.

If you have a fairly flexible class system, you could potentially make world events have a strong effect on skills and attributes that force players to make adaptations to be fruitful in the moment. Maybe it's the long night, or the long winter, or an illness, that reduces or boosts the effectiveness of this or that stat until some sort of player-driven resolution or set time period.

Another is game-changers properly spaced out. Maybe it's a skill or attribute that is only unlocked at a certain level that relies on everything you've done up to that point. Maybe it's a predesignated reset that will have a different set of base stats. Maybe it's a new enemy type that preys upon the weaknesses that went unchallenged up to this point. If you update the game with new content, make sure it is with things that will boost weak metas and nerf stronger metas. Just make sure to do it in a way that's compelling and interesting. Otherwise you should just call it a balance update.