Survival games, especially survival horror games always need a sense of limitation, a sense that you have a vulnerability or handicap that could be your downfall. Limited inventory space is a great way to create tension and make players weight value between items be they items that have short or long term benefits. New types of vulnerabilities can be created however, take for example ZombiU
In this example, even though it uses an offscreen device to manage items your character on screen is still vulnerable to what is happening around them, at any moment a zombie could sneak up on you, you have to manage your items fast!!
Other games like Diablo II have you struggle against limitations where it causes you to abandon anything that overencumbers you. This is difficult for the player as they have to figure out how to keep their loot, manage their consumable items such as potions and consumable scrolls while at the same time making sure they have the gear they need to survive. They also struggle with the concept of lost value, anything you can't carry back to a shopkeeper is essentially lost gold.
Looking at how they designed the inventory system for the Kickstarter video, it seems quite interesting. I assume because it takes 'time' to open a draw and sift through the contents that is 'time' in the game. In Pathologic if you're in an infectious area every second spent there is especially dangerous. This risk vs reward mechanic will really test some peoples nerves as they linger just that bit too long inside a diseased room.
Also the inventory space appears to be specialised and limited. The space in the original game was limited to a dozen or so slots with a storage area at your characters usual 'home'. This new system appears to create unique spaces that are suitable to only certain items like guns or knives, I assume though that you could forgo your gun or knife for a can of vegetable or something perhaps more valuable to you at that given time.