For me the sweet spot is 6th Gen, or equivalent, graphics (PS2, GCN, Wii, DC, XBox).  Although my daughter really loves 5th gen probably for the same reason you do.  To me 6th Gen graphics look good enough, but the budgets of these games are low enough that there is still a good amount of experimentation in game design.  If you take the 5 systems I listed there is a crapload of variation among the game design from one game to the next, far more than all HD consoles combined.  The 6th Gen also had voice acting.  In general I'd say it's the sweet spot for 3D gaming, while 4th gen was the sweet spot for 2D gaming.

Call me crazy… but I like it when a game is priced high. IDK what it is, it just screams confidence and quality to me. Like if I’m gonna buy a game, why spend $40USD on a good experience when I can spend $30USD more for one of the greatest gaming experiences?

(Plus the price usually goes down with time, so I never end up paying the high price tag lol.)

Oh, and (i) linearity and (ii) short-and-sweet. Love these two as well (even if, ironically, the least expensive games tend to be the more short-and-sweet and linear).

I love short games. Esp TPS and Stylish action games and arcade style games. I can beat it once and being who I am will replay them a few times but I can stop anytime I want. I like long games like anyone but sometimes esp modern ones where they pad it so much. I want to stop but not sure I'd know what to do if I put it down for too long. So I try to power through. Tho sometimes I get so impatient the game drags on too long I just skip cutscenes to get it over with.

I'll talk about the series I play the most, which is Pokémon. I don't mind HMs. I think the existence of them makes it so the map of the game's region is more interesting to explore and to revist. We can see that from Sun/Moon ownward, when the HMs were replaced, the regions have become more and more flat and uninteresting. Also, I like random encounters way better than seeing the Pokémon on the overworld. I mean, yeah, seeing them on the wild is cool and exicting... during the first two hours of gameplay. After this, it becomes just a detail you take it for granted. Random encounters is fun because you never know what you will meet, while the Pokémon you get in the wild are always the same ones in the same locations. And to cap it off, something that can be applied to other franchises: Limited space in your inventory. If everything can be fit your bag, itens become less important, less desirable.

Yeah, so basically, I like when a game has less QoL features. I think we came to a point where developers are removing traditional things related to gaming just to please people that don't like gaming so much in the end of the day