IMO it depends on the game.

I can tell the strength difference between a Rando Bandit and a Decently Equipped Bandit.

Or a Rando Bandit and a Giant Ass Monster.

But this is obviously not the case for Rando Bandit and Rando Bandit, when somehow the latter is stronger because they stay on the other side of the forest.

I just hate this kind of areal difficulty scaling because there isn’t much visual cue provided.