Black Myth: Wukong developer Game Science is reportedly trying to ban content creators from discussing certain topics in exchange for game codes.
In a leaked document, which at least one content creator has publicly stated they received from Game Science, there is a "do's and dont's" section, telling those who receive a code what they cannot discuss in their content. Here, the document informs those with Black Myth: Wukong codes that they cannot include "politics" and "feminist propaganda" in their coverage of the game, among other topics.
I only go by steam reviews and gameplay videos/demos, if the games aren't recommended by someone I know personally.
Game journalism has always been essentially marketing, the publications are way too tied to the industry and way too dependent on advertising from the same companies and products they're supposed to be criticising, hence why big titles that get less than an 8 are equivalent to normal games getting a 2 or a 3.
Good games will rise to the top organically, some might get lost in the shuffle but it won't be the perennially 2 weeks late big budget crap apologists at whatever game """news""" publication you care to name to fix that.
You must be reading weird reviews then. Probably too deep into the influencer-bubble, which granted with the proliferation of video reviews and the way algorithms work on Youtube and so on is sadly rather comment.
I would quarantine that game in my review bucket based on it's isolation of specific trigger words such as 'COVID-19'. I'd rather talk about Winnie the Pooh, tbh.