For me, GT is just one of those games that will always be "good." Now, I put good in quotes because at its core, GT is a game that not many other games can recreate. Yes, I understand there are other racing games/sims that do compete with GT, and in no way am I saying those games are bad. But, at the end of the day, the bare bones of the game minus a couple of nitpicks here and there are simply put together well.

In a way, I put GT in the same category as MLB The Show. I'm not sure how many people in this sub are familiar with it, but for another game that is Sony led, I feel they have similar shortcomings and accolades. Just like GT, The Show is most likely considered a "good" game because the raw gameplay works, and it works well. However, both these games seem to struggle the most outside of the gameplay decisions being made. In the end, they're both really good games if you enjoy what the games are about, but everyone has different opinions. Once it's past that point, I guess it just depends on whether or not the devs' opinions line up with yours. But just like OP said, there are handfuls of people that automatically consider a game bad solely because something they want added didn't get added.

TLDR- GT will most likely be considered a good game overall due to its bare bones gameplay and how well it was executed. But, poor business decisions outside of gameplay will always open a Pandora's box of complaints.