Everything that you're discussing is based upon a Divergence of game design philosophies. And the first Legend of Zelda game, you could literally buy keys at Shops.
I see no problem with having extra keys and dungeons, particularly if it is difficult to manage key placement, nor do I see a problem with offering the player the choice to buy or find extra keys that they can save or creating alternate paths that they can explore.
I am unsure why this is in any way perplexing to any game designer as it is simply a choice between creating a fixed path that all players must use, or creating multiple paths that broaden the choice of the player so that they can create their own adventure.
Ultimately is left up to the creator of the game to determine what philosophy they wish to use, not up to some pedantic vote as to what is best and what is worse.
Edited by Timelord, 03 October 2023 - 09:13 PM.