The way I see it - does the game have a final boss? Or a difficult climactic ending sequence? A meaningful resolution? Then I did the part that matters, and feel fine saying I beat the game. The side quests and collectible junk usually is just busy work that wouldn’t pose a challenge, I just don’t have the time or interest.
I never could get into Crusader Kings or Europa Universalis. I generally love grand strategy and play a ton of things like Civilization but for some reason Paradox’s maze of menus and mechanics never seems to click for me.
I have wayyy to much money in Warmachine minis - a hobby I loved that the WotC lawsuit starting killing and the pandemic more or less finished off.
I also have dabbled in creating my own stuff for board games such as Gloomhaven.
Spec Ops: The Line looked like yet another generic first person shooter, but it is full of surprises and gets deep in a way I never expected. Highly recommend it, and go in as spoiler-free as possible.
I think it depends on your opinion of what was “wrong” with Cyberpunk to begin with. If your issue was the bugs, it’s a lot more stable now. If your issue was that the story was unengaging and player actions lacked weight and consequence, adding more of the same isn’t going to do much good.
Much like your No Man’s Sky example - if you thought the core gameplay loop was lacking before, you probably haven’t changed your mind no matter how many little goodies the devs have added since launch.
I never got into any of the souls games until Elden Ring, but I’m now working through it for like the fifth time. Truly one of the best games I’ve ever played.
Cheers, I’ll remember that for next time.