Yes, true pure technical REST probably does require HATEOAS. However, there's still a lot of value in a "RESTful" API that that achieves at least 'Level 2' in the so-called Richardson Maturity Model.
On my teams I advocate for building Level 2 maturity "RESTfulness" into the design as it seems to strike a good balance between following the principal of least surprise for those who need to consume it and the heavier implementation effort required to get to that Level 3, which as you point out is probably not even appropriate in most cases.
https://www.martinfowler.com/articles/richardsonMaturityMode...
On my teams I advocate for building Level 2 maturity "RESTfulness" into the design as it seems to strike a good balance between following the principal of least surprise for those who need to consume it and the heavier implementation effort required to get to that Level 3, which as you point out is probably not even appropriate in most cases.