Not to be rude but what is preferable? Something as buggy as Cybersomethingsomething 207x at launch or something that is playable from day 1?

Making a game is, while not exactly easy, you just need to throw enough at it. However, making a game well is a wholly different lox, you will need love, dedication as well as good knowhow. The results will be worth it, usually.

Funnily, smaller dev teams, while supposedly slower, are still often able to do things that big companies can only dream about.