There are magical items and "magical items" in the game, similar as there exist feats and "feats". For example an item with adds your modifier to damage is different from an "item" which gives you Arcane Acuity, Radiance Orb or Reverberation. The former is a nice bonus, the latter change the game. Sharpshooter or Great Weapon Master are very strong feats, Tavern Brawler is a game breaker.
So I would not stay away from all magical items, especially if visuals are a reason for you. I'm on PC and luckily can use a Transmog mod to avoid terrible design. I would use the normal magical items which give you decent buffs and avoid overdone items.
The higher the difficulty, the less you can go without magical items. I played Honour mode (which is basically Tactician) without using Arcane Acuity or Radiance Orb or Reverberation, which was quite stupid and hard, but worked. Without any magical item it might not have been possible however, at least for me.Try it on Balanced, it should work.
