It will be more difficult, I promise you
There is much more to play for in it, at least in my opinion. The medals alone are worth investing some time into, although some of them are based on some stuff that you may or may not use in your playstyle.
A side note, based on what's happening here in KBTL - now in KBAP you get a score penalty if you lose a battle. It is only 1%, but it is something, especially if you use that more than a few times. This means no more fast travel tricks in KBAP. I just saw it in the scoreline after I finished the new playthrough...