'Deathloop' chucks the stuff that sucks about games in 2021

Unfortunately, "Deathloop" indulges the habit -- not unique to games -- of dabbling in deep questions in ways that are ripe for excavation across subreddits and video essays, but are not necessarily engaged with or even felt in the course of play. There are hundreds of lines of dialogue, primarily conversations with Julianna, that alight upon what it means to live a good life, the ways in which perspective can reshape what a "good life" means, being amenable to change, and living in defiance of cruelty and evil. But the game is about those moments in the same way a car is about its stereo system. It may be nice to have. It may even be essential to you.