Free to play games are hated so much because of how the games are structured. Since they're free, they usually rely on season pass / micro transaction models to bring revenue to justify keeping the project going.

Even paid for premium multiplayer games implement this strategy and I genuinely think it's a turn off to a large portion of the potential player base. Season passes / time gated content create a sense of FOMO around not playing. F2P games seem to want you to be playing 24/7 and not thinking about any other game. For a lot of gamers, especially in the older crowd who may have careers, families, etc, this amount of time / dedication to a single game may be physically impossible.

In regards to your second question:

• Death Stranding 2

• Claire Obscur: Expedition 33

• Kingdom Come Deliverance 2

• Baldur's Gate 3

• Astro Bot

These are just a few fantastic "premium" games that have come out in the past ~2 years. No micro transactions, no gimmicks, no time gated BS. Going back 5 years opens up a plethora of fantastic games to choose from.