Never played 1.0's Darkhold so I wasn't aware of that. I like that idea, but timed treasures is neither a new or dealbreaking thing. I personally do love Coil, but I enjoy regular dungeons too. I don't consider them time wasted unless stuck with a bad party, which just happens sometimes.

As for the new dungeons, SE did go the easy route and made things "harder" through higher HP, but think about how much gear and weapons have progressed. Imagine AK without level sync with the gear we have now? We'd shred right through it. As it stands, it's simply a matter of perspective. It's not a challenge to you (by comparison to say, Coil), therefore it's a waste of time. I disagree. The new dungeons suggested item levels are 80 (which is higher than Turn 4, and given how T4 is farmed lately, it shows). I simply see the gap closing. Some might not be ready, and some - like youself - may already be well past it. But with all this nice new gear, if everything was still tuned for i55 with no level sync, THAT might get boring.