1) The devs continue to call it a bullet hell, even though it isn't, so you're not getting away from that.

2) Bullet hells are a genre because people don't consider them boring.

3) You're only "punished" by the fact that somewhere in the loop 9-11 range if you don't have healing you'll probably die from attrition. That's plenty long enough a run for most people.

4) Unless you're trying to absolutely maximize the furthest possible loop you can manage,
you can definitely still screw around with random builds for fun. And if you are trying to maximize, then duh, you're stuck with meta. Focus on just pushing the limits of fun builds, don't compare them with ultra tryhard builds.

I have NO idea what the meta is I just use what I like or think will rekt things up! Im having a ball over here