One of the biggest problems with games criticism that attempts to look beyond mechanical playtesting and articulating the critic's enjoyment (or lack thereof) of a game, is that thematic analysis is virtually indistinguishable from interpretation.

Other media can rely on realistic representation to provide an objectively legible text for analysis. Board games must refer to players aligning mechanisms with theme on their own. Which requires them to construct meaningful connections between the two, forcing them to rely on whatever knowledge about these mechanisms and this theme they bring to the table.

So the more experienced and qualified a critic, the more their analysis actually functions as prescriptive interpretation. So instead of criticism broadening and enhancing the discussion about a game, it ends up limiting it.