if you want to save money then dont do plaster ceiling and you get higher ceiling height too, replacing surface light with the same type of light is easy, just plug and play replacement, but for installation you will need more powerful drill since ceiling is usually reinforced concrete

the problem without plaster ceiling is to hide all the additional wiring for those downlights, and you wont get those fancy accent lightning that you see from plaster ceiling too

actually both type of light that you mentioned is also called downlight
surface downlight = install without plaster ceiling
recessed downlight = install flush with plaster ceiling, most of the internal is hidden inside plaster ceiling

you can go for LED track light or magnetic LED track light, you can conceal wiring at the side of the track and magnetic track light has many type of lights that can easily replaced surface downlight

surface downlight can be use at smaller area for example at living room to room walkway, entrance foyer, balcony, toilet, yard, and maybe kitchen

if you want to do exactly in the picture, you will need plaster ceiling and wall panel, concrete wall can do it but it is a lot of work to hack the wall, and if you stay in condo, it is usually load bearing wall and not allowed to hack

if you dont want to do plaster ceiling you can only go surface light design, cannot look flushed like what you see in the picture