There are types of software where rushing product is the norm. Everyone read stories of long death marches of computer games. These games have millions of lines

There are types of software where rushing product is the norm. Everyone read stories of long death marches of computer games. These games have millions of lines of code. I would put my 2c that code in these projects is part of the people who made it. You should not expect to be able to understand code without talking to people. Yes patchwork can be intricate and some things may be lost in countless requirement U-turns. What I think was common in successful projects is that people kept some understanding of the code. They might have no incentives to share it with you ^_^. ymmv ofc.