I agree that, theoretically, chipping hit points is not accurate battle simulation. I also agree that lore is not story, and basically unless you look up stuff online in most from software games, the story essentially doesn’t exist or is so obtuse and hidden that it’s unfollowable. However, these are still, to me, some of the greatest games ever made just based on the fun of the combat and the sheer beauty of the game & world design. I’m currently playing through Sekiro and it is gorgeous and intriguing, the story is also there and presented better than many of the other games in my opinion. However, this game is also so unrelentingly (realistically) difficult, and lacks viable alternative progression routes that I think most people would just give up on it, to be honest. This kind of defeats the purpose of being such an enjoyable and beautiful game in many cases. So, I think what makes a good game is also very much determined by individual human context.

I’m totally not disagreeing with you by the way, except for the “Chipping hit points… is dumb as shit” piece, which Sekiro actually still kind of features.