My sentiments too. Personally I find that a palpable sense of growth and achievement is diminished by being exposed to so much so early on.
Gothic 1&2 did it so very well. Using creatures to gate your progress, including powerful creatures you weren’t equipped to deal with yet in missions, so your growth is clear when you maw them down. BGs used levels not only as a part of your raise as child of Bhaal, but also as a tool to herd players in the right direction.
That’s an element most modern RPGs struggle with, maybe except Kingmaker though I feel that one had some other issues with how they leveled content.
