I agree with every point you make except the conclusion that he's an overrated hack. I was rolling my eyes through every cutscene of Death Stranding 2 (except the electric guitar fights which were incredible for the naked spectacle), but his inability to rein in his silliest indulgences is a relatively minor facet of his overall artistic merit in this medium.
The guy's a certified auteur, and like most of them, he has some serious gaps in his repertoire. But when you play a Kojima game, you're almost always going to play something completely unlike anything else on the market, and there's a solid chance you're going to have a blast doing it.