Buy two 1000 piece puzzles from different makers and do them back to back. The difference is immediate, and it has almost nothing to do with the picture.
Here is what you are actually feeling.
The click. A well made puzzle tells you when a piece is right. There is a small, definite click, and a slight resistance when you lift the joined pair. Cheap dies cut pieces loose, so pieces sit near each other without ever committing. You end up second guessing work you have already done, which is tiring in a way you cannot quite name.
The cut pattern. Good puzzles cut every piece to a distinct shape. Poor ones repeat shapes across the board, which means wrong pieces fit. That is the worst thing a puzzle can do to you. You build a section on a false join and lose an hour finding it.
The board. Puzzles are cut from laminated board. If the board is thin or the glue is weak, edges fur up after one or two builds, corners lift, and the surface starts shedding a fine grey dust across the table. Thick board with a matte laminate stays sharp through many builds and passes on to somebody else in good condition.
The finish. Gloss looks lovely in a photo and fights you under a lamp. Every piece throws a reflection and you lose the detail you need. Matte or linen finish is what you want for a long session.
The fit of the picture to the cut. This is the craft part. A good manufacturer thinks about how the cut lands on the image, so that pieces carry usable information rather than falling as ambiguous blocks of one tone.
This is why we range Ravensburger.
They are a German family firm that has been making puzzles since the nineteenth century, and they have engineered the boring parts properly. Precision cut dies. Every piece a unique shape. Thick, dense board. A linen structured, anti-glare finish. The click is the click that everything else is measured against.
Puzzlers notice. Ask anyone who has done a few hundred and they will tell you which brand they reach for, and they will tell you why in exactly these terms.
What that buys you, in practical terms:
You trust your own work, so you build faster and with less frustration. You can do the puzzle again in two years, or lend it, and it will still be good. And when you finish something you loved, the surface takes a poster frame or glue well if you want it on a wall.
A note on price, since I sell these.
A 1000 piece Ravensburger sits around $39.99. That is six to ten hours of use, and more if you do it again or pass it on. Set it beside almost any other way of spending an evening and it is not a close comparison. The cheaper box on the shelf next to it is not really cheaper. It is just less puzzle.
If you are coming back to puzzling after years away, start with a good one. The experience you are remembering is probably the experience of a well cut puzzle.