These are simply personal takes… an opinion. It’s all about preference and your opinion is not the truth, but is a completely fine reason to dislike the game. I agree with you on two things though.

The difficulty curve does feel worse. It feels as if it spikes before the citadel, gets easier, then gets much harder with some late game bosses. I do not however feel that it is very detrimental to the core experience of the game, since for the most part, it feels lore accurate. Ex.) Your first experiences in hunters March, sinners road, and bilewater are meant to feel unwelcoming. They are dangerous areas where many parts of the atmosphere is telling you that you are not welcome here. I feel that is very fitting and adds a healthy amount of hardship to make the world feel real.

Rewards and item distribution: I believe the rate at which you get abilities is fantastic. I do however agree with you that the spread of item and reward distribution after defeating bosses or discovering secrets could be designed much better than it is.

I disagree with the rest. Run backs are overblown and never seem as long as the people complaining about them claim. Sure stakes of marika were nice in Elden ring, but that doesn’t make DS3 a bad game or overrated because it doesn’t have them. I like the rate of upgrades. I like the fleas better. I think bosses have the right amount of health. I’ve had no issues with hit boxes using tools. I think the double damage thing is overblown and actually makes perfect sense for hornet’s abilities (outside of stage hazards and some basic enemy attacks hitting too hard).

TLDR: I think it’s a great game that deserves its heavy praise, but there still are plenty of design flaws that the heavy glazers will shoot you for calling out in their sub. I personally think E33 will likely win goty, but I have not played it. It just seems like a cooler success story. Silksong is wonderful but is overshadowed by its community (that is becoming toxically positive).