If I was working on this full time the investment of learning an engine thoroughly would be worth it, I imagine. Game dev is a hobby for me, though, and what motivates me is making fun games. If I stumble across a game idea that's really fun and worth releasing to a wider audience there's nothing stopping me from building a better version of the game by hand at that point.

yes! you wrestle with it because the starting boilerplate is thpically a do-once operation. if you stay working on one project for a few years, you will no longer know how to start the next project, and with modern software, starting a new project in two years from now will be nothing like starting one now

Don't listen to these people. Work on your "vision".. figure out what gameplay is "fun".. let the LLMs smooth out the resistance.

Things will change rapidly in the nest 12-36 months and people with vision will outlast "craftsman" 100 to 1.

Because that's how all engines and libraries work? Even ones you write yourself still catch you out now and then.