I think it has more to do with the pasta taking in a lot of sauce, rather then it holding a lot of sauce. To make a good Italian pasta dish: Take out the pasta a bit earlier out of the water and poor it into your sauce. The pasta will take in some sauce and get al-dente in the sauce. The pasta shouldn't bath in sauce but just be enough to give your pasta lots of flavor. Don't wash your pasta after cooking, because that will close its pores and hinder it from taking in sauce.

I prefer the oily pasta “sauces” like pesto or butter and herbs. I think those still benefit from sticking more fat to them

My Sicilian uncles prefer their pasta with a thinner sauce. My (German) grandma made very thick pasta sauce, and I was not a fan. (She also sweetened it, I found it gross. Sorry grandma. There were German dishes she made that I absolutely loved.)

I’m somewhere in between but my reaction was similar - I actually don’t prefer pasta that holds too much sauce. My penne is ... totally fine. But tastes obviously vary.