Hmm. I mean certainly we all like what we like and there's enough room in the disco and the units if the current sound isn't working for you. For me personally, I don't see the current sound as being very far removed from the chant-oriented choruses and random noise quirks of Cherry Bomb or Simon Says. All of these recent songs still feel very much in the same lane. 
It still feels very much like the type of random bed-squeaking, if you're happy and you know it woop woop woop woop woop it's always been. If anything, the b-sides are the biggest shift IMO in that they are now much more fully R&B, rather than a potpourri of different styles. A discussion on the shift in the b-sides has merit for me, because I do see the shift there.
There's a little less glorious pre-chorus in 2 Baddies to be sure, but we still get our SM bridge and money notes. I don't think it's their strongest tt, but I don't think it's their worst either, in a world with Wakey Wakey. (Let's Play Ball is a mess tho, I agree.)
But the narrative that recent songs are only chanted completely skips Sticker and Favorite? Neither Favorite nor Sticker have chant choruses, but are sung in their choruses.
I also think there seems to be an ongoing gap in what people think the fandom "likes" and what the fandom is actually doing and feeling and thus, I'd argue, liking. Because the streaming numbers don't match these ideas about which songs they like.
(Note here: I need to finish updating my Melon and Spotify numbers from last month but I did a quick check just on these songs while I'm talking about it.)
Sticker, Favorite and 2 Baddies charted longer in Korea than any other song other than Kick It for 127. Sticker and Favorite are also more popular in streams than Superhuman on Spotify (not counting Melon's Superhuman streams because of the boycott), which seems to show that many within the fandom like these songs.
Favorite, in fact, is tremendously popular within the fandom and on Spotify, has already passed Touch and Superhuman and about to lap Limitless soon enough. It has moved very quickly and continues to add a constant steady amount of streams. In addition to the streams, you can see how well liked it is by Czennies from the way audiences sing it passionately and loudly in concerts, with the same enthusiasm usually reserved for staples like Cherry Bomb or Limitless.
Sticker is certainly more divisive within the fandom, yet paradoxically also highly streamed and sung along loudly to at concerts. I thought the streams were artificially inflated on Sticker by people checking it out in the early days but it has maintained its growth and momentum, showing it is streamed. People do like it, in addition to me.
In contrast, a song fans actually don't like very much, like Punch, moves very very slowly. This isn't an age thing on songs either because God knows Punch has been limping towards these 30M streams for most of this year at the slowest possible pace and that's a fairly recent song.
(Limitless is actually a slow mover on Spotify too, even compared to other older songs like Cherry Bomb).
I also kind of disagree with the idea that the fandom "loves" Superhuman. Superhuman is one of my faves, but I remember many arguments with Czennies then and now who felt it wasn't 'Neo' enough and was too Shinee/EXO-ish, so I certainly wouldn't call that the last universally loved 127 tt. Even Favorite, which is very well liked, has detractors that think it's not 'Neo' enough.
NCT music has to walk this constant line of people who love the NCT noise and people who love the softer side.
And yet Czennies tend to stream that NCT noise more across platforms with a few specific exceptions. Spotify and Melon streams show that fans like Hot Sauce way more than Hello Future, which I've always found a curious phenonenom since I feel like I've heard Dreamzens say they dislike Hot Sauce (maybe it's other Czennies that aren't Dreamies who are streaming?) But HS also continues to top the streaming (behind Kick It ) in Korea, which is more heavily Dream-focused in its streaming. In fact, Glitch Mode has more streams and ULs in Korea than HF. (Korea prefers Glimo, Spotify prefers Beatbox.) Sticker even has more streams and ULs than HF in Korea.
Both sets of fans love the hell out of Life is Still Going On and Dive Into You tho, which are certainly softer, so there is room for both noise and soft.
One more note, many WayZenNis don't like Kick Back. And I feel like a lot of people don't like Let's Play Ball for NCT U. Judging by the streams, they don't like Beautiful and Work It the most for NCT U. I've seen people complain about Work It or argue for it. I don't feel like anyone even talks about Beautiful.
