For me there are two different kinds of cheap: There’s lots budget but creative use of tools cheap. I’ve seen some awesome results coming from this.
And then there’s “I wanted to publish fast and maximize profit” cheap. Never seen something good coming from this.

And also reusing stuff is totally fine, if it’s actually the right fit. Some titles still feel different to me. E.g. Don’t starve (together) wasn’t that early to the survival craft party and I also think it’s not a very outstanding title as in being innovative gameplay wise but I just love it.
It has a very specific charm and it just makes me feel like this game wasn’t created to earn as much money as possible but to make an idea come true.

Or when I think of the early Harvest Moon Games that look quite boring and repetitive compared to newer comparable titles. They still have some appeal to me. They feel authentic.
While the newer games feel more sloppish and generic like a joke that was told a thousand times already. They look even worse compared to titles like Stardew Valley that actually tried to develop the existing ideas of the genre slightly further instead of just regenerating them in different styles. While it still relys heavily on existing ideas and mechanics and extends them.

It kind of boils down to the question whether the developer / author / whoever ideated the whole thing had to add anything of their own at all or if it’s just a remix of existing things.

I mean, you can even sell the same game over and over by just changing the number on the tile… looking at you fifa