The only way I can truly define Hogwarts Legacy is, it's the most lovingly, creatively and beautifully crafted lifeless franchise product I'll probably ever see.
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When Portkey games and Avalanche software (not to be mistaken for Avalanche Studios of Just Cause fame) set out to develop this game, their mission was to make the ultimate Harry Potter, self-insert fantasy game. I can safely say that they succeeded in every facet for better and also for worse. Reason being that for every wonderfully creative solution and rewarding mechanic there is an equally "half-assed" part to tilt the scale back towards mediocrity. I put half-assed between quotation mark, because in truth, having a mechanic scientifically engineered to evoke a certain part of the Wizarding World fantasy, but not making it deep enough to hijack the experience is anything but half-assed.
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Hogwarts Legacy is purpose built to be enjoyed casually. Booting it up from time to time to muck about in the open world until your magical animals that you are currently breeding (yes you can do that) clear their cooldown time, all while you are blasting dark poacher wizard camps, unlocking new cosmetic options or generally just enjoying the absolutely breathtaking Scottish Highlands (this game not having a photo mode is a crime against humanity). It is a damn good time with much to do ... too much to do.
Despite the developers best creative efforts, the open-world stuff quickly become tedious, especially since they went WAAY overboard with the collectibles and their way of collecting. Needless to say, this Platinum will remain uncollected even after 70 hours.

If the story was operating on the same level as the visuals and the atmosphere, Control would be a game of the century contender
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As it stands, Control is a visual masterpiece with engaging combat and a nicely done, gradual buildup to an earned power fantasy but it is let down heavily by the plot and it's protagonist.
I should say, Jesse Faden is not a BAD heroine (i do love me some badass, no-nonsense good-girls) but in the brutalist, bureaucratic, blood-red power play she just doesn't get her time to shine and is constantly overshadowed by characters not even present on screen. The story balances plot of circumstance and selfish drive relatively well up until the third act but then fails to explain too much and can't anchor the conclusion to it's main character like Alan Wake did all those years ago.
In fact, Control is a mirror image of Alan Wake in a lot of ways. While the former takes place in bureaucratic, twisted hellscape, the latter's setting is an eerie forest, surrounded by natural beauty. While Alan Wake struggles to wrangle the events set in motion supposedly by himself, Jesse Faden arrives with determination and is barely phased by all the weird sh*t going on. While Alan Wake can almost be categorised as a survival-horror, Control is and action-TPS. While the first has janky combat and awkward traversal, the second is responsive, snappy and addictive in it's gameplay. What they share is atmospheric storytelling, reliant on finding out many mysteries. However no amount of fascinating, ambiguous lore can make up for the barebones narrative and a blandly written main character.

Now I'll never unsee that Ratchet & Clank and Spider-Man use the same UI design.
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The above anecdote may be a joke on my end but I feel it is a good indication just which Insomniac studio has developed Rift Apart. It is definitely not the up-and-comer miracle workers of the PS2 era who had edge to their narrative style but were also onto something unique with their peers, Naughty Dog and Sucker Punch. Then again nor is it the PS3 and early PS4 era who were all heart but struggled to find true footing in an industry on the brink of the AAA-Indie schism. The Insomniac developing Rift Apart has also delivered 2 Spider-Man games by the time the latest R&C game was finalising and with Spider-Man2 out the door to critical acclaim, they are confidently in the big leagues now.
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Although the above career has done wonders for their presentation, technology and balance in target demographic, I am not entirely sure it has served them well when it comes to their legacy franchise.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a finely tuned, polished, shiny game. It looks amazing, it smells amazing, it runs amazing, it controls amazing but somehow it feels as thought this should not be the natural evolution of a collectathon, action-adventure then platformer, now shooter with platforming elements. The planets are GORGEUS but lack exploration. The story is once again, finally getting there but it just lacks (fur)balls and ends up being pretty by the numbers. The weapons once again show inventiveness but don't really push you out of the comfort zone. The money and the polish came with caveats. The hook: the gameplay is the BEST it has ever been and the series looks the best it ever looked, but the edges ... the history and grit has only lip-service here and no function.
I do hope this iteration of Insomniac will find the golden ratio for the current state of Ratchet & Clank and judging by how S-M2 hit the ground running and how divine it feels to play all current Insomniac games, I maintain high hopes.