First, make sure whatever you choose he eats happily. Doesn't matter how good it is if they won't eat.
I'm way too lazy to do raw diets, and they're really hard to do properly. Anyone who doesn't think that probably isn't doing it right. Getting all the trace elements/minerals, controlling the risk of food poisoning, etc isn't actually easy. And frankly, if there's zealots advocating for something then that's a huge turnoff for me. There are people on the forum who will disagree with me. That's fine, I'm still not doing raw diets.
Re all the brands of foods - I see more recalls of the boutique brands, and extremely rarely for the big brands. The big companies have quality control and feeding studies, plus more likely to have their own factories. I don't want to hear the "but it's so good for them" unless you also have the feeding study to back it up.
Cats are obligate carnivores, so they must eat meat. Anything else in the food is a filler. Doesn't mean that filler isn't helpful for some cats, but it's still a filler. Depending on the specific cat there may be things that are problematic or they don't like. Depending on medical conditions, you might need to adjust the diet one way or the other to help.
Wet food is better for cats than dry food. Dry food is better for their teeth. But if the cat wants dry food, guess what. You're feeding dry food.
So, that's all the general stuff. All my cats have thought Science Diet/Hills was cardboard, and not the kind they like. So that's out. Royal Canin was tolerated for a while then rejected with extreme prejudice, so that's out. Sibley, before she died, would periodically reject all the food and I'd take it back to the store and tell the clerk the silly cat stopped eating it again, then go try a new brand of wet food. I went through a LOT of different brands in that period.
Dry food is Purina brand. Currently, Purina One. Though for a while I was feeding Purina Pro Plan the geriatric version. I got there because I was feeding regular Purina One, then Sibley started having problems. So I switched to Purina One mature, which worked for a while then Sibley started having problems. Then I switched to Purina Pro Plan, which worked until she died. After Sibley died, I used up what I had in the house feeding Arwen and switched back to Purina One.
Wet food I start with Fancy Feast. If that one doesn't go well, the next I try is Purina Pro Plan wet. After that, it's a game of what the cat will eat and frankly, it doesn't matter any more you just go with it.
I do a mix of wet and dry. Arwen greatly prefers dry food, and will nibble on wet food periodically. Sibley loved wet food. Current 2nd cat Rosie prefers wet food, but will eat dry food if hungry. Outside the pandemic, I'm gone during the day. They're getting dry food, then I add in wet food when I'm home.
I understand that lots of people say that the food is crap. And it might be. But I respond with well, Sibley was nearly 20 when she died. Arwen is 12 and half. Auburn went from emaciated to near normal weight before his heart killed him. And when my mom's cat developed diabetes, the vet told told her feed Fancy Feast classic, that it was just as good as the prescription food and a fraction of the price.
(Cat guide: Sibley I had for nearly 20 years, she died April 2019 of old age/heart problems. Arwen I've had for 12.5 years, she's healthy minus some asthma. Auburn was a hospice foster kitty, about 12, I took in for about 5 months until he died in November 2019 from hyperthyroidism caused heart problems. Jill, about 10, I adopted in Dec 2019, she died in May 2020 from advanced cancer that came out of the blue. Rosie, 10/12, I adopted in July 2020 and she's the one who is making it hard to type this. Rosie has acid reflux, but different foods haven't had an impact that I can tell.)
Bottom line: pick something that is readily available in your area and a comfortable price point for you. Try it. If new kitty doesn't like it, try something else. It'll be fine. Just monitor his weight so he stays in a healthy range.