Indonesian to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature 1910 novel Hikayat Siti Mariah

In discussing the use of the word 'hikayat' in the title of the historical novel 'Hikayat Siti Mariah' (the earliest example of 'Indonesian' literature), Pramoedya notes that 'hikayat' was often used merely as a substitute for the word 'cerita' and that some works with 'hikayat' in their titles were not really representative of the hikayat genre, which is a type of traditional Malay romantic narrative.

He writes "Kehikayatan Hikayat karya Haji Mukti tidak begitu pekat sebagaimana halnya dengan yang lama... ." I know that 'pekat' means thick, dark etc., but that does not fit in this context. I am thinking that the sentence means something like 'The rationale for using the word 'hikayat' in the title of Haji Mukti's novel was not so XXXXX as in earlier times...'

Any ideas about how to translate this clause, particularly the word 'pekat', in this specific context?