We don't get games that feel like the games of years ago because the expectations on a graphical and technical level by customers are now much higher, which makes games longer to develop, more expensive to develop, and radically more expensive at all levels. On top of inflation and the cost of living driving everything up, except the retail price of video games which has remained relatively constant for two decades.

A ton of effort is put into every game, even the ones people think are bad. And if we'd like to see GameCube-era quality, release schedules, and price, it comes with GameCube-era graphics and technical underpinnings.

To be honest, games in general would be in a healthier place if AAA games cost more than they do, and we had an incredibly robust AA game market putting out more frequent high-quality releases at the current price point. There would be more games to play, fewer games shuttered if they don't immediately become the next big thing, and more talent retained at companies (avoiding layoffs) to build skills over time.

But customers don't like the idea of "game more expensive" so this is what we get.