A pivot perhaps, but not a shallow or immediate one.
A piece of art is informed by the artist, and it is incorrect to believe the two can be wholly separate. None of us are impartial robots, what we experience and believe informs what we do and how we do it to different degrees. That’s one of the major points of art, the expression of the author’s views, and videogames are art.
Furthermore, the author of this piece clearly has complicated feelings regarding the game and they themselves make it explicit that they don’t feel it’s fair to pass judgement until experiencing all of it.
What is sad to me is that so many people on this thread fail to see the nuance in the author’s piece, instead jumping to judge any discussion of existing controversy as full on agreement and support. The world isn’t black and white, you don’t have to pick sides and actively fight everything.
It's not incorrect in the least. I adore art made by some people who are insufferable. Blow himself, for example, is so pretentious I wonder how he can hold a conversation with us lesser creatures. But Braid is one of the best puzzle games ever made. The art is not the same as the artist, and I am perfectly capable of divorcing them in my mind.
That’s your prerogative, but the world doesn’t revolve around your preferences. Other people are interested in those details, including the writer of the piece and the authors of the games that this game is based on.
> devolved into a hit piece
That is profoundly unfair. Any amount of criticism doesn’t immediately become a “hit piece”. Most of the article is about the game and the reviewer’s thoughts on it. Any mentions to the creator are thoughtful and well-weaved into the larger review, adding to the layers of complex feelings the writer has about the game. They add to it rather than detract, and you’d do well to appreciate the review as a thing in itself instead of assigning agendas.
I'm personally less concerned. Partly because I attribute Blow's social opinions to naivety and ignorance rather than malice – e.g. I think he holds misogynistic views not because he is trying to be misogynistic, but because he's naive about the systemic bias in society, a criticism that can be levelled at many people.
But otherwise, I'm less concerned about Order of the Sinking Star because he has said in interviews that the story is supposed to be interesting to a wide audience and not intended to be based on his world view in any way. The Witness also wasn't some right wing think piece, it was just pretentious.
I get why a journalist would be concerned, but I think they're being overly cautious.
I also think the enlightened have a habit of underestimating how much of an audience the status quo has, and I think that's an ignorance of its own.
And because it's the internet I feel the need to subtext that this is by no means a supportive comment toward Blows personal beliefs. I don't know what they are!
From his tweets and streams I learned that he believes Trump is by far (his characterisation) the best president of his life time, and that he makes fallacious arguments such as defending a belief in God because (paraphrasing) “many physicists believe in it” (appeal to authority).
I can’t tell you much more because I personally got tired of what I saw first hand and decided I shouldn’t spend my time on it. Things like the COVID conspiracies mentioned in the article are not something I can personally attest to.
For better and worse there is a cult of personality around Blow. He puts his views out there and is constantly on stream, all of which is his choice. For sure it’ll lead to many more sales of the game from the fans, but it also opens the door to criticism. He’s very aggressive in sharing his opinion so there shouldn’t be any surprise there is pushback.
Should that affect your purchase of the game? Only you can answer that. I can’t fault people for deciding to not monetarily support those whose beliefs harm their lives, and it seems worth considering that designers responsible for the game have disavowed the creator to the point they’ll be donating their part of the proceeds.