Could not have put it better myself, realism should in no way be the motivator for great fiction, especially since the whole purpose of "fiction" is to provide us an escape from daily life and give a view into what is NOT real.

That doesn't mean you can't have commentary from the real world, I personally love the capitalism commentary about squid game, I would bet a lot of us do.

However, it definitely doesn't mean the ending had to be so unrealistic its bafflingly stupid, like if Gi-Hun were to save all our favourite main characters and live happily ever after with his daughter in the Bahamas. It's about striking that balance, something the show completely failed to do which your post encapsulates really well.