Apologies for the late reply, but I am busy these days.
Sorry, I didn't mean to say that you hadn't played it well. What I meant with giving it a chance is... "accepting it", for lack of better words. Like, someone can force me to do a certain task with the aim that I'd learn something, however unless if I accept that reasoning and open up to the task (thus giving it a chance), I wouldn't really learn anything and that task would instead be a needless, wasteful chore. Basically, it's not for you, you understandably wrote it off, but pushed on through it due to the fans' comments that it will get better in the third act... but since it's not for you, it didn't click.
Media, philosophy, etc. are quite subjective, and affect each one of us differently. I was not trying to push you towards something, nor blame you for not enjoying the game -- I only replied to that part of your original comment because I felt that it was too dismissive.
Regarding your second point, I don't have too much time to reply with a long post, however I will write some of the things that stood out, in the same way they're presented in the game. Warning, some spoilers ahead for anyone reading:
- Given the reveals in the story, do the androids' lives and stories have meaning? Why / Why not? Does the answer differ for the YoRHa ones, after knowing their fate and also the way they're created? Finally, if you see that their lives don't have meaning, do they at least have the ability to give their lives meaning? If they do, why aren't they taking the chance to give their lives meaning?
- In a similar vein, what is the point of the whole conflict and war between the machines and the androids? And how would things be different if both sides "freed themselves" from their bounds to their creators? I.e. instead of the machines trying to claim the Earth for the aliens, and the androids defending it and constantly rebuilding it in wait for the humans, they both did something different and started anew? Instead of being stuck in their tasks, they carved out a new path for themselves? And do they actually have the choice and ability to do that, or are they genuinely stuck? See the various stories of the different machine cultures and how they failed and what, precisely made them fail and caused their downfall. Pascal and feelings, the Forest Kingdom and their misguided (but pure) intentions, etc.
Check the implications of your answers with your real world experiences, and how many times there's something that people are stuck doing despite all signs pointing to it being fruitless and they're better off starting anew. The various stories of the failed machines also have many implications on things that we come across a lot in real life.
- Ostracism, hate, punishment, and forgiveness. Devola and Popola, two androids who messed up rather badly (and it wasn't entirely in their hands), are reprogrammed to feel intense guilt and shame, as well as being constantly ostracized by all other androids with absolutely no chance of forgiveness despite the passage of time. Yet, what is the point? The androids are content with this punishment, but ultimately what happened happened and hate won't reverse the past. I suppose this does fall under "inescapable self-destructive cycles of hurting each other", though.
- "Something to fight for" is present extensively in the game, and it tries to portray multiple viewpoints related to it. For instance, what happens to someone when their reason to fight is jeopardized? What if it's entirely destroyed in front of them, what happens to them, then? What if someone doesn't have a reason that really resonates with them? And can someone pick up anything to act as their purpose, or are some things more important than others?
- The ability to commit atrocities without batting an eye by believing you are on the right side. (Further enforced with the DLC) This is actually really profound given how things are going in the real world these days.
- Perspective. This follows up from the above point. The main principle behind multiple playthroughs is to make the player reflect on his/her actions in the game, with the power of hindsight added as well as revealing 'the other side'. This point is further reinforced with 9S in the third act, who chooses to ignore all signs that A2 was forced to kill 2B, and stick to his own 'side of the story' so to speak. Again, this is more commentary on human nature and while it may not be a very deep philosophical theme, its execution is quite great and does lead to some players contemplating this issue.
- Ending E, with its interesting gesture of helping someone you don't know and probably won't ever know with a sacrifice of your save file in order to break the cycle the characters are in. (However I admit that Souls games do convey this better). Now, this may be reaching a bit, but I also feel there's something to be said about dehumanizing the developers and publishers into a bunch of titles, murdering them, and continuing to push on through the intense bullet hell, all with the promise that there's a good ending for the characters at the end, somehow.
- There's so much to say about Pascal, but another comment already took care of this. Particularly the moment he decides to help A2, and completely abandon his principles of pacifism and peace, forced to do that and broken by the surrounding world. However, did Pascal actually have a choice in what he did, or was he really forced? What if the burden of the world is really too much to bear for someone with their principles? Moreover, the children killing themselves in fear of an unknown that does not come to pass is an answer to Pascal's Wager.
Finally, I just want to thank you for keeping an open mind and asking.
There's so much more I would like to mention and more details I would love to go through (what I said is shallow), but I really really don't have time.