If you're looking to get a thorough picture of a game, there are a number of YouTube videos that might help. Not saying I'd watch anything in whole, but in the case of Metro Exodus, I watched a couple movies and hopped about before making my decision. A wonderful opportunity to establish your own view without spending money. To obtain additional ideas, there are "wiki" websites for games where you can get full walkthroughs of the game, missions, and so forth.
It all depends on what you're looking for. On the other hand, it depends on how much I'm willing to spend and my current financial status. I'd wait for retail game offers to come around more often in the past. When it comes to Nintendo-published titles, it seems like you have to wait forever for a discount. So on occasion, I'll simply go right in from the beginning.
With yearly multiplayer games, you don't really have a choice. At launch or not, you have two options: purchase it now, or wait till later. For the last several months, I've just stopped purchasing them since they're no longer worth it to me.
Since it's not dependent on player numbers, games that aren't dependent on player populations are left behind. At this moment, you have the option of either waiting or not waiting. At least for me, I'm going to wait and see.
It also depends on the game you are playing. When I'm looking for a good deal, I think about these things: How much would I be willing to spend for this/this kind of game? The creators have made me a fan. Surely, it's a game I've been eagerly anticipating for years. For example, I pre-ordered Monster Hunter: World, Red Dead Redemption 2, Witcher 3, Resident Evil 2 remake, etc. since I knew I'd play them for a long time and enjoy every minute of them. I waited for price cuts on games like Division 2, WWZ, and others before purchasing them.
For me, buying on launch is the finest example of placing all your confidence in the hype of commercials and fanboy enthusiasm and relying only on the idea that the product produced would live up to a specific degree of expectation. A new product is not merely a "game," but rather part of the company's economic plan, and it seems like you've completely forgotten this reality. Even though we all know that in the real world, things might go awry from time to time.
Buying a game or any thing before doing your due diligence means you're effectively depriving yourself the opportunity to learn more about it through after-launch reviews and YouTube clips. If you wait only a few days after the game's release, you can even view full gameplay videos to get a better sense of the game.
Not everyone is like me, but if the product I buy is unpolished to the point where it is evident that Quality Assurance and testing were cut down, or if it's just a massive disappointment, I would like a return or better, to not having spent my $60.
If a game is on sale, I usually purchase pre-owned so that I have seven days to check it out and return it if I don't like it. Then there are the instances when a game is too short, and it would be better to just return it.