Did anyone else feel like they sucked at combat all the way through both Remake and Rebirth?

I can't tell if the game is easy on normal mode or if I was lucky or what, but I feel like I didn't do anything right in terms of setting good Materia, dodging, etc.

First off, I felt like when it came to Materia, I just never had enough for everyone, despite completing every side quest and random thing throughout the game. The Materia I did end up using made me feel like I was playing Pokémon games as a kid again - Only using things that did damage. I could likely count the number of times on two hands that I blocked throughout both games. The final fight against Sephiroth, I died three times until I learned to target his wings and the sword and then cake-walked the rest of the fight. The other stages I didn't die at all. I get the feeling that I am still trash and the game is easy but was curious to see what others thought and if I might actually be good at video games.