i used to scoff at people who eat foods that are marketed as tasting like meat. i've since let pragmatism win out. if it helps you reduce your meat consumption, that's really all that matters.
how does the community feel about these products? any brands to avoid, or try?
That's fair, though it's also possible that they've already taste-tested many or most products over time and found what was stated was overall the (personal) outcome. Sometimes people post things to try to save others the expensive journey of trying it all, but we all have different taste buds and one can always fill their boots.
I personally found some vegetarian (even though I'm not vegetarian) cookbooks quite helpful, as I'm not a fan of the pre-prepared stuff for the same reasons, the processed additives didn’t taste good. That's just my experience tho.