Just replaying Metro Exodus and it's just so clear how much of the game's soul is missing compared to previous games because it sought out "broad appeal" and made creative decisions based on that rather than trying to just make a good Metro game.
It begs the question - we've seen so many games sacrificed at the altar of "broad appeal" but has a game ever been made better by stepping out of their niche to try get a better audience?
There's a low budget game I just tried a demo for called Ultra Age. There's also that Soulstice game that was just announced. Both look meh, but might be fun.
That's where I'll be going at some point I'm sure is to the small devs. Big devs have failed to gain my interest almost at all in the last 2 years. At the moment I manage to go into the past to find what I like. I haven't played enough button mashing slashers to run out of old games yet.