Do you like the older RPG systems better than the newer ones?

[Morty]

Yeah, but there are also games like, for example, Exalted or Monster of the Week, where you advance in a steady drip, but also pick up steadily more substantial super-powers as you do it. Exalted even gives you all the math you could ever want. Ever.

It's a weird thing to say, "there's no mechanical progression in level-less systems" when there are so, so many level-less systems out there that have progression curves as steep or steeper than what D&D provides.

The biggest difference between D&D and Exalted or other high-powered systems is that you can't go from "mostly normal" to "superhero demigod" just by beating up progressively stronger enemies in the latter. In D&D, you can theoretically go from level 1 to level 20 in the space of a single campaign, if you actually play that long. That is a feature one might feel is missing from other games... but also a source of major problems.