I just tried out mpv and found it weird that it doesn't offer a menu for settings like vlc does. Is that the same for you too or do I just not know how to use it?
mpv is very barebones. Which is why I love it. You're supposed to configure it through its configuration file, and mainly use it with keyboard shortcuts.
There are wrappers for mpv that provide a more "full" GUI including settings, but mpv itself is more hotkey and config focused. You can do a lot of cool stuff using profiles and scripts. I get it if having docs open to configure a media player isn't your cup of tea, tho.
Some of the wrapper built on mpv are mpv.net, iina, and gnome-mpv.