If we want to merge multidimensional arrays we can still use array_merge
instead of array_merge_recursive
$first = [
'level 1' => [
'level 2' => 'original'
]
];
$second = [
'level 1' => [
'level 2' => 'override'
]
];
array_merge($first, $second);
// [
// 'level 1' => [
// 'level 2' => 'override'
// ]
// ]