Saying stuff like Witcher 3 and Nier are “just a huge ass RPG with tons of sidequests” has to be the least intellectual take I’ve seen in years. They’re both groundbreaking games with (at the time) unique systems never before seen. BoTW was also a breakthrough in that it was the first mainline Nintendo game to embrace modern advancements, and did so without sacrificing much of their traditional fun-oriented design.
Are most AAA games complete unsalvageable garbage? Sure. But to classify the few exceptions as equally bad is disingenuous - ESPECIALLY when most of the games you listed are actually fairly old.
Here’s a total banger that’s simultaneously retro, indie and a cult classic: Cave Story. A remake is available on most digital stores, including Steam for the people interested. It follows the story of “Quote”, a lovable and- you know what? No spoilers, I’ll let people fall in love with the game by themselves ;)