I joked in my year end post about being a "gamer aesthete" because I thought the sprite work and design of early Kirby games pleased me on a primal aesthetic level, but good UX and design is a pleasure to interact with and is its own reward! It's a valid way to love a game!
headfallsoffone of the best pieces of video game criticism i stumbled across was in the middle of a fire emblem video and the youtuber didnt realise how foundational a take this was because it seems obvious but it was: the reward when levelling up is not primarily stats and utility, but shiny flashing lights