Kodi is very flexible and you can make the menus behave just like you want. Setting it up can take a bit of fooling around to figure out but it's quite straight-forward once it clicks.

I have configured mine to go to file manager when I press 'f' on the keyboard. You may not have a keyboard attached but it might be worth your while.

Generally agree, but you can set a shortcut from the main menu to file browser.

I googled a bit and yes, there does seem to be a way to configure a top-level file browser with super favourites add-on. For sorting, I see nothing appropriate, though.

So, yes, Kodi is flexible, but too tricky for leisure use.