You don't want to carry heavy landing-maneuver gear to space and back. Thus the skeletal landing struts that were not-quite-strong-enough for rough seas.

Further, the ocean platform it was landing on was built to sustain heavy seas and stay relatively flat. Recovering a rocket bobbing in the waves could be much harder than this. Also a challenge: quenching a very hot engine in cold ocean water.

No, this platform-landing is probably one of the simplest, safest ways to recover/reuse a stage.