I've had many Kitchen knives through the years. My favorite the last 10 years for an 8" cooks knife is a Shun. Incredibly sharp, wonderful balance, and thin for a cooks knife. I would buy Shun again and again. I have a 10" Wustof cooks knife that I bought 30 years ago in college. It was too big then but I use it a lot because I like it. It is an old friend that's been with me my entire adult life...but it's still larger than necessary for most jobs. I have a Joyce Chen cleaver that I absolutely love and use all the time.
I also have an 8" Wustof cooks and the 7-8" Santoku. I like the Shun a lot more than the Wustof cooks, but the Santoku is a nice tool.
I have a wustof straight 6" boning along with a Forschner 6" flexible curved boning. I like the Victorinox/Forschner far more and it's about half the price.
I keep several cheap Victorinox or Mercer pearing knives for a few dollars each.
I have the big Forschner butcher knife but if I had to do it over again I would consider the breaking knife or the cimeter for big slicing jobs. But really, I can do most everything I need to do with meat with a boning and chef's knife.
I use others but those are the workhorses. I agree on avoiding the purchase of a knife set. Buy what you need and add to the kit as you go. I would recommend you start with a 8" cooks, 5.5-6" boning, pearing, and maybe a good serrated.
I use a magnet on the wall for storage. I live in a dry climate and don't bother to dry or oil knives. The wall magnet keeps them safe and dry. Yes, the magnet can scratch and ding knives if I'm stupid.
My friend Stephen taught me something 30 years ago. He keeps a knife block on the counter full of Cutco knives. It is a decoy so his wife and other folks go for those, while he keeps the Shun and other good stuff hidden away in the drawer. He's a genius.