It feels like a central problem with these "total sandbox" games/virtual platforms is that there's no underlying aesthetic or- as OP mentions, art direction- to

It feels like a central problem with these "total sandbox" games/virtual platforms is that there's no underlying aesthetic or- as OP mentions, art direction- to anchor it. So it stands for nothing. I suppose Second Life and Roblox are major exceptions to that, and have been wildly successful, but do we really need another version of those platforms but far more limited and in VR? It reminds me of IMVU, which is surprisingly still alive and well.