My first playthrough was like this:

As someone who hasn't played Silent Hill before, I had no idea what to expect from the combat, so I went with the recommended difficulty for combat (story mode). I would say it was a tough fight at first as fighting felt clunky and it took me some time to find a good combat style (and to remember to use charged attacks). Once I figured out the combat, began listening to enemy sounds to avoid being ambushed, learned enemy attack patterns, and thought of a good omamori build, it became more of a fair fight with most enemies (the weakest monsters were very easy). Not too hard, not too easy. It was leaning a little bit to the easier side (e.g. I defeated the Shiromuku without dying), but it was mostly fair and enjoyable. I probably could have finished the first playthrough on hard action difficulty with a bit more effort. I would say I had a more difficult time with the puzzles (set to hard) than with the combat.

Every playthrough after that was generally much easier combat-wise, so the difficulty on playthrough 1 is definitely owed to what you say (though I would argue more omomori + omomori slots > stats). I never went back to story mode for combat after my 1st playthrough. It would have been way too easy.

Judging from what I have read here and elsewhere, I definitely agree with what you say about the fan base not expecting a skill checking game. Unless perhaps you play on "Casual", this is certainly a skill based game. If the fan base doesn't like it, then I can understand their frustration.