I agree that there have been a lot of games coming out lately that lack depth but have great visuals. The current focus seems to be on making things a visually pleasing as graphics allow and forgetting about trying to immerse the player into the game environment.
But then is this just a shift in marketing due to customer demand.
The rise of battle royales and pay to win games that have limited gameplay. Many of these games are free, have a free version to drag you in or offer micro payments. Many of these games have a basic gameplay that is just rinse and repeat. Oh and lets not forget the battle pass that they offer, normally with a free and a paid version.
I hjave nothing against those games but the do not offer any depth to the game and are mainly meant to be enjoyed with others and no really suited to single player unless you like that sort of thing.
Even with all the visual appealing games out there games like Minecraft which was a step back in graphics still have been popular. MineCraft standard edition does not have a storyline to it either though so maybe it is just the market at this time.
Thanks for sharing. It enjoyed reading and thinking about what mainstream video games have become. Have a great day!