I remember someone at Valve, maybe Gabe Newell himself saying something along the lines of, “We are still capable of making a Half-Life game.” I’m butchering the quote.
Anyway, it’s just not true. If you compare the length and meaningfulness of Half-Life 2, and the following episodes, Half-Life: Alyx feels more like it belongs in the same category as Half-Life 2: Lost Coast.
It’s too short of a game, too few weapons, very little meaningful build up despite your trek in the game. It’s just a disappointment.
HL: Alyx was more of a tech demo for Valve's work in VR R&D. I'd be curious what Valve ends up releasing in the next 5 years, given how heavily they've been hiring in the CV, Hardware, and Spatial Computing space for the past few years now.
Once Valve "solves" VR Gaming, I wouldn't be surprised that a HL3 would be released shortly.