Running it without GApps is by and large a pretty enjoyable experience, provided you don't use the communication apps that seem to break/work like ass if they are not present (signal for example, while technically available without google services framework will just never work right). Really the only ones that come close to working right are Telegram (although it will never shut up about google services and "not running without them", it will run just fine) and the builtin SMS app. Email can be procured reasonably well and I have a sizeable library of games that I got from old humble bundles (back when they were actually good) that are fairly enjoyable.