One variation of "'it was all a dream" is my favorite interpretation of story. This is the well-known "Back to reality" theory. It implies that neither auto-Max nor the main Max will have superpowers after the last photo jump into the past. That is, it kind of erases all fake reality (alternative branches) and returns to its true branch before the manifestation of rewind abilities. This approach (erasing events and lives) should have worked much more efficiently in a dramatic way, but since it also affects the real experience/time spent by the player, it was perceived by many, to put it mildly, without enthusiasm.

part of me yearns for more Arcadia bay I've learned that sometimes good story's should be left untouched.

Yeah, considering that the developers were the only ones who knew exactly what fate awaited Arcadia from the very beginning, it is not surprising that they had no plans involving a return to this "sleepy" town. It's a pity imo.

I think the game was about much more than the ending the game was really about the journey

As the developers themselves said that just the journey itself was a prelude to the finale, the final choice was the cherry on the cake and determined the whole meaning of the story. As Koch (or one of them) said that they shaped a lot of what is happening precisely for the last choice. That is, the ending was the basis for everything, or in other words, the ending was the beginning.