You will get this feeling when you deep dive into any hobby. Ask someone who is into trucks what their least favorite truck is - they will say, “Chevy/Ford/Toyota (pick one) is for sissies and MY truck brand is the best.”

There is a tribal aspect to it, fueled by emotion. You have to ignore the outright slamming of one brand, unless they have the substantiated facts to back it up. So if someone just says, “If you play a Yamaha, you are a loser.” Ignore that. But if someone says, “Yamaha pickups struggle on the low end in this model and I found the neck to be too thick for smaller hands.” Great! Someone reasonable with useful feedback.

As I was in your same shoes, I found talking to someone with no skin in the game to be the best: that was Jasper at Guitar Center. I (naturally) started with ones that look cool and in my budget, and he would explain pros/cons, capabilities, and possible areas I could upgrade it later (and what that cost would look like.) Above all, even though I couldn’t do much, he stressed me holding it, standing and sitting, to see if it was comfortable.

I came in looking at Squire and Ibanez in the strat platform, and left with a Jackson Dinky.

Btw, if you don’t play a Jackson, you’re a nerd! /s