If this was a soulless cash grab, it wouldn’t be half as optimized as it is now. I climbed a peak, and could see the other side of the map without any frame drops. AAA titles still struggle to do that.
It is bootleg Pokemon, but it’s also a well made game.
There was a period of time when a massive influx of shovelware was released. Think stuff like the ET game. No one wanted to buy it, and the industry almost became a bust. Nintendo came in and almost single handedly revived the entire industry by releasing novel, high quality games like donkey kong. This is why Nintendo is a modern household name and why you mostly see atari in museums.
My point is that the line between the two is so blurry that I’m not convinced there’s an actual distinction other than elitism. Genre doesn’t mean “every game is exactly the same” having a wide variety in mechanics is a good thing. I don’t think having permanent upgrades outside the dungeon, for instance, is enough to make a game a different genre.