I kind of took the Cloister of Trials out of the FFX equation, as I didn't really feel they were proper dungeons in the sense we are discussing. I have to say I did highly enjoy them though (with the exception of Bevelle) , and this is a perfect example of the no encounters in puzzle rooms concept.

As for healing after battles, I think it is an absolutely brilliant idea, allowing for each fight to be a challenge. I've been playing :ast Remnant recently (and while no means a perfect game), and that game allows Saving anywhere in a dungeon and full health recovery after battles. In that game you go into a separate battle screen when you touch monsters on the field screen, but it also allows you chain together multiple monsters into the single fight. So if I walk into a room with 3 monsters, I can face them one by one, or chain all three together. If I chain all 3 I probably have a 30% chance of getting a game over, and if I am 30 minutes into a dungeon there is normally no way I would do it. But since I can save right before, and I don't have to worry even if I get out of the battle with 1 hp left, I engage all three and have a very challenging and rewarding battle. Had I faced three separate trivial encounters the room would have been a simple boring grind.

One school of thought is that by making it harder to save you make it more difficult, but I think by making saving everywhere possible & HP recovery after battle you can make the game extremely difficult.