IDK
I haven't fully explored the plains since H&H yet.. but I would say up until and into the mountains it is pretty much the same as it was before H&H. As long as you have the level of food and armor for entering that area you should be fine.
Probably the hardest part is just starting due to no skills. Taking the time to work on skills rather than rushing content you can really feel a difference now. Where before skill level felt almost meaningless until you got to higher levels.

And believe me when H&H came out I played it with a new character right away and really disliked the changes. I quit playing for month+ until I saw a patch that lowered stamina use for melee swings. At that point I thought I would give it another chance and found ti wasn't too difficult to adjust to the new system. That first day of H&H was really bad though, they actually fixed it by the next day for the most part from what I hear. But right now everything I have played through seems well balanced.

Haven't messed with the tar guys yet though.... might sing a different tune then ha ha.