I switched from VLC to PotPlayer — same "it just works" reliability with a sleeker, modern UI. It adds advanced features — native 3D/360 playback, built-in codecs, Nvidia VSR, and local Whisper ...
I've heard of (and even sometimes used) video players like VLC when Windows Media Player prompts me to download "new codecs", but I've also heard people talk about codec packs like K-Lite, Shark007, ...