Aside from the few Ice Gems added to ground loot, what "extra shit" is there that really makes Hydra any easier? My experience with Hydra was near identical to the original, aside from the fact that I already knew a strategy to beat him and that its weakness is Ice. The new girl's (Yoko) skills mostly were resisted by Hydra, so I definitely can't see that being the issue. That said, I do agree the random 3 stat points (happened twice for me which I dumped into strength, the only stat i've been lvling) is ridiculous and completely unnecessary. However it's too early to judge if it will make the game a easy steamroll or not (i doubt it).