With those rules the differences between species are really just cosmetic. Part of the fun of DnD is exploring the rules and planning your character around the strengths and weaknesses of different species.
And the differences aren't enough to lead to a crippled character. If you understand the rules and are taking on a hit on an ability score you are doing that to play against type. In 3.5 half orc paladin became such a popular combination exactly because it's a story of someone playing against type. I want play in a world filled with dexterous halflings and wise wood elves. And if I decide to play foolish wood elf or a clumsy halfling I'm doing that because I want to break with type.
So long story short, Tasha's rules are bad for role-playing and do damage to the setting
I hear you and I largely agree. Races should feel distinct and the features they grant should give them an identity.
What I'm saying is that achieving this via ability scores is poor design in my opinion. I'm biased here due to my positive experiences with Pathfinder 2e where each race receives one "free" increase to any ability (which allows them to start on fair and equal footing compared to other options) and a list of unique racial feats to choose from. These feats give each race a lot of personality and made me realize that ability scores aren't necessary to achieve that feeling of unique identity at all - in fact, they're detrimental because they shrink your pool of viable choices.
My other point is, this is already a thing in 5e. The dextrous and nimble halflings are small, can easily hide and move through bigger creatures' spaces. The primal, graceful wood elves move swiftly and hide easily among forest foliage. The hell-touched tieflings can wield infernal magic, dragonborn can breathe their kindred dragon's element and the psionically gifted githyanki can jump and teleport. I don't think this is cosmetic at all. Why can't my half-orc paladin be as intimidating as a half-elf? Is my halfling wizard less smart than a human? I know there's cases that make little sense lore-wise (e.g. 20 Strength halfling and half-orc in the same group), but I see those as rare and extreme exceptions. And if someone wants to play a chonky halfling barbarian and not feel behind, why not?
