One thing I do know I'm not a big fan of these days is the games-as-a-service notion. I have zero interest in live services when they're designed to keep you in and paying. I even have noticed some ignorance towards really cinematic games with very linear level design and heavy animations towards performing actions.
A complete notion I forgot to mention in my remarks! This is so true, and I was just talking about this with friends on discord.
Games as an attention economy is good, when the game is good, and progression isn't tied to that attention - the original Diablo game, for instance, captivated and held people's attention without any real gimmicks like we see today, where people are rewarded daily with loot boxes, consecutive play bonuses, etc.
The reward should be the game and the pleasure derived from it. Funnily enough, the recent game I've enjoyed for the gameplay for this exact reason is Path of Exile - yes there's a story there, but the gameplay mechanics and challenge of reconciling all the nuance within it is the reward itself.