And, sure, some of these games are kind of sloppy—R.E.P.O. never managed to justify its existence for me,
That's sad. R.E.P.O. can feel sloppy but the devs are putting in the work: beta branch with new content, consistent weekly videos (about development and community questions) of higher than standard "slop budget" value.
But overall it's like Lethal Company as described: emergent storytelling is possible because it's sometimes scary and sometimes very funny.
Ah yes, perfectly normal behaviour!