Halo CE has some real bangers (Devils…Monsters, On A Pale Horse, Covenant Dance, Under Cover of Night). Blow Me Away from Halo 2 has some amazing guitar riffs. The Starcraft: Mass Recall mod adds a lot of great music from other games/artists to its cutscenes. Starcraft Terran 1 goes METAL is probably my favorite out of those.
I loved the mechanics in Company of Heroes 1 and wished it was more accessible and window-friendly.
Infantry: MG suppression, cover system, retreating and reinforcing squads, squad members spreading out and dodging shells, captureable weapons, occupiable/destructible buildings, destructible terrain, artillery leaving massive dirt clouds and craters (aka cover). It made me feel like I was fighting in a real war, but without the “unfair” TTK of real life MGs/tanks.
Macro (vs Starcraft 2): no workers (capture territory to generate resources), no 6 pool (base has starting bunkers) or proxy (can only build production in base), 1 of each building all game instead of 10+ Rax/Gate, 4-6 squads instead of 100+ Marines, cutoff harass (disconnect enemy territory from their base). I felt like I was fighting my opponent instead of the game.
I hate RNG-heavy progression that discourages playing the actual game.
Path of Exile had terrible loot droprates and gamble crafting when I last played in Ritual League. Starting a league = poring YouTube for safe league starter builds to follow step by step. Gearing up = only picking up currency and buying items from other players on a website. Making $$$ = flipping items (buy low sell high) in hideout (personal town).
Path of Champions (PvE gamemode in Legends of Runeterra) drops shards and fragments to unlock new champions and relics that add a passive effect. Drops are random and not duplicate protected. Champions need 2 star upgrades totalling their unlock cost to feel playable. Optimal progression = speedrunning dailies/weeklies, 2-starring meta champs, and logging out.
Warframe had a very pay-it-forward culture when I played (Fortuna-Old Blood expansions). I got advice on meta starter weapons (Hek/Atomos) and Warframes (Rhino) and where to farm them. I got taxis to locked (for me) planets and direct help for some of the bosses. Other noobs were also helpful for the mutual revives. I even got some free trash mods from a clan member when they saw I was new.
For spontaneous conversations I’d join clan parties or simple missions with lots of downtime (i.e., escort, wave survival). Endgame farms with specific roles and/or time gating like Eidolon hunts were very sweaty.