This isn't an attack, I am asking for enlightenment. I'm someone who has gotten a lot of enjoyment from games like Qud, Brogue, and CDDA. I want DCSS to pull me in. From someone with maybe 2 hours in the game, can you please tell me if I am totally wrong about what I have observed so far?
Early game combat is relatively repetitive. Most of the enemies have very little difference in behavior or tactics. I compare this to brogue, where nearly every enemy has a different movement pattern, attack style, or gimmick. If this were chess, Brogue makes each monster feel like a different chess piece. DCSS feels very sameish. It comes off as false variety. My tactics don't change at all between most of the monsters I have ran into.
Then, when I look at Qud, I see a massive sandbox of possibilities around the mutation system, item randomization, enemy variety, factions, etc. Again I don't see this in DCSS. I haven't yet dug fully into the gods system, but even the species system feels a little underwhelming compared to how Qud lets you manage limbs and whatnot.
I bring up these other games because they are often compared in the same breath, and many people say that DCSS has depth in ways that outclass both of these games.
I know this will make some people mad, that's not my intention, but what am I missing? What is the unique thing that DCSS brings to the table that makes you play for hundreds of hours? What point should I try to make it to in the game before I decide it just isn't a game for me? Did you have to play for a while before the game "clicked"? I love reading the reviews from people with hundreds of hours, but every time I try the game I bounce off.