My friend group played Valheim a few months ago and it was spectacular (for the weekend anyways). It's a great game to lose your self in the environments and doesn't have any IAP rubbish.
Getting resources feels pretty grindy, and the abilities and leveling system feel lackluster to me.
That's on you. There are tons of amazing new video games with a good plot and a great gameplay. I'm not a huge gamer myself but the last one I did that checks those boxes was Horizon Zero Dawn.
Unless the genre is grindy, micro-payment games in which case... Consider not playing them.
It's just like real life. You aren't supposed to be the hero. You aren't supposed to have all the best everything and a million platinum.
You're just another cog moving through the world, easily replaceable. That's how it was designed. The problem is that, strangely, in a game, people can't accept that, so they'll spend 18 hours a day playing, but for some reason won't spend 18 hours a day working, even when spending 18 hours a day working at something clearly - undeniably - yields better results than playing a game.