'Far Cry 6' and the impossibility of 'fun' politics in video games

I gotta admit: I was already exhausted by the baggage of Far Cry 6 before I even picked up the controller to review it. Having played every game in the franchise to date --while following the near decade-long discourse critiquing its flawed politics, ideological cowardice, and colonialist mindset -- I admittedly came in with some assumptions about what to expect. I expected Far Cry 6 to be (like nearly every other recent title in the franchise) dumb, mindless, well-polished AAA fun, with a vapid story that uses the aesthetics of real-world issues to overinflate its own sense of self-importance. Yet to my utter shock, Far Cry 6 flipped nearly every one of those expectations on its head -- at times to its benefit but more often to its detriment. I'm not prepared to call Far Cry 6 a great game by any means. As far as gameplay, it's actually one of the least polished Ubisoft titles I've played in a while.