I agree with you. The game is in a bad way and that makes me nervous about the future of this franchise. It does seem soulless and they are just going through the motions. The more I hear from Rod Fergusson the more I wonder if he is the problem. Most of his talking points seem to be looking for good will points and all the good will in the world is not going to save this franchise. Inclusion is good, accessibility is good as long as the spirit of the game is at the base. But to me it seems hes just more interested in talking about how revolutionary he is in terms of Gears 5 and it’s more of a pat himself on the back each article I see him speaking.
It’s a sad state of affairs and I think we can all agree on this game desperately needs to be in a better state. What makes me uneasy is Microsoft is not going to let an IP like gears die. It was easily one of thier top IP’s they will cut everyone out before they allow it to die but god only knows who the hell they would bring in and it could be worse than what we have now so yea a little unsettling for the franchise’s future.