@Wagomu:
I kind of wish items could be replaced with low grade spells (most/all builds capable of using them) that you could choose to allocate in some amount of cantrip slots. That way, you would have a naturally limited amount of uses that could never be fully expended and would be replenished for each new encounter. Then the game could be balanced better around it, too, instead of never being sure whether you had access to those things or not.
The effects can be interesting and bring out more aspects of the game, like engaging with elemental weakness or enemy ai, but I've always felt that the way From games punishes you so harshly discouraged me from experimenting with anything I could really exhaust. If an enemy can suddenly kill you in one shot while you're in a position that doesn't let you avoid them, then anything you've consumed to get to that point is suddenly and unpredictably wasted. As a result, I truly never used anything. No papers/resins, status heals (minus a few poison heals and one of those curse heals in DS1), allures, marker stones or anything (except I guess the ones you consume for souls, which almost don't count since they're just another form of a different resource). I don't dislike the experience that I had, but there were definitely moments where people told me I should be using one of those things to get past a tough boss, and I was just not confident that I wouldn't waste it.
Semi-related, this vid touches on a lot of these sorts of issues (as well as points out some of the parts that succeed, and a bunch of unrelated points):
I wouldn't want to completely get rid of consumables though. Having to plan and grind for an item to increase chances or just being SOL and not have anything besides flasks add an aspect of unpredictability that I love to hate.
Sekiro: I never felt stupidly powerful even endgame which was a contrast from Dark Souls. No shame in spamming block until you get the timing down better. It was definitely a game I progressed through inch by inch. It helps to look up "how to cheese" videos for any section/boss of the game. No shame!
I have yet to beat the ending with that 4 staged boss. My 2 playthroughs I'm just too burnt out to die a hundred times on him until I somehow beat him. 2nd playthrough I did cruise through pretty easily, so maybe ill beat him next time.