People can have their biases, just remember that. The story is built in a way where core themes remain each arc, formulaic. It was designed that way (go to island to island, defeat the big bad at new island). Then the setting matters and the characters matter. Who cares about comparing your favs. I believe some arcs match or at least come close to pre time skip excitement for me. I dislike some arcs both pre and post timeskip. Preference.
OP is more popular than ever and people are enjoying it. Stop treating nostalgia like it’s a measure of the quality of the series as consensus.
For me I miss the impact his older art style had. The dynamic panels and double spreads. The characters feel a bit miniature now (not because of Elbaph this has been going on for a while) from the busy panels, and like stickers on a page in poses instead of movement and rhythm like his older styles