I can't comment on Expert+, nor Journey Mode yet, but...
1.4+ has made, IMO, early-game slightly more annoying in some aspects, though it improved on other aspects.
If you can find a chisel, it makes early game way smoother as you can tunnel much faster. That's a huge win.
However, the town rules (though this was revised slightly after I last played) make early-game a bit annoying as it feels rather restrictive, and the penalties on prices sure hurt early-game when you don't have a lot of money. I don't know if this was ever changed, but it seems like the Travelling Merchant is also picky and what was 10 gold can sometimes be 12+ gold and that 2 gold hurts during your first 5-10 game-days when he comes out and offers an item he doesn't offer that often.
Also, trying to go all over the world to build houses in places your NPCs will want to live, especially early, is not exactly easy at times.
The beacons, though, once you actually *do* get them set up, make things much easier, at least in a time-saving way though not really making things easier as far as surviving, or killing enemies.