It’s definitely possible, but I think there’s still a palpable difference today. As an example, this work from 1989 on how telomeres work was awarded a Nobel in 2016. It’s not unreadable, but it has a completely different (and I would say worse) style compared to the Crick paper I linked earlier: https://moscow.sci-hub.tw/1036/810d9cdd2ea2e1a07d887dc432061...

It’s also interesting how formats have evolved. Older journals like Nature and Science used to have a “letters” section--essentially letters to the editor. They were brief (200-300 words) and started with “Dear sirs”, like an actual letter. Today, a “letter” in the same journals is essentially a whole (short, 2-3 page) paper, like this one: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1578-4