Joni Mitchell uses a lot of different open tunings, so you play a chord without even using your fingers. Plonk one finger down, you get a different chord. Yes it means you have to stick to songs that are ok with the chords you can play but it didn’t hurt her career.
I always think that the magic happens when you actually play a recognisable song, or can play along to one*. As you suggest, it doesn’t make the slightest difference how you achieve it, and open tunings are great for this approach. With very little work you can play something that sounds good and can then build on it. The problem is that most beginner tutorials start with standard tuning though, so diving into open tunings as a beginner may be a little intimidating?
Keep attempting Wish You Were Here. It’s not too difficult and will give you a benchmark to how you’re progressing.
* The TV was on in background the other night, with a Bruce Springsteen gig on Sky Arts. I heard him play an unfamiliar song with a really nice chord progression, so looked it up and started playing along. It was just a simple D-A-G, but it sounded glorious playing along with Bruce!