I'm not seeing the problem. I admit, unlimited cantrips was at first jarring, especially if you harbor some low-magic sensibilities. But D&D has left 'low magic' behind a long time ago. And really, is Mending overcoming that many problems? I kind of like the idea of giving the Wizard something minor and magical to do all the time vs hoarding their magic sleep spell for the right moment as in ye olden days. Then again we can quibble over 'minor' and scaling of damage cantrips as well I suppose.
I think the game is largely not played like a Gygaxian dungeon solving problem of DM vs Players, where every innocuous thing can be a riddle to solve or a deadly trap and PCs are counting their torches and every buckle and strap. Of course, some tables do like to play that way, and there's not anything wrong with that, but I think D&D is no longer tyring to support that as the default out of the box play style.
I think the game is largely not played like a Gygaxian dungeon solving problem of DM vs Players, where every innocuous thing can be a riddle to solve or a deadly trap and PCs are counting their torches and every buckle and strap. Of course, some tables do like to play that way, and there's not anything wrong with that, but I think D&D is no longer tyring to support that as the default out of the box play style.