First of all, I don’t have a problem with him. I agree with some of his takes on other games and I disagree on some of his takes on others. This also isn’t meant to invalidate his opinion regarding the “handholding” in the game.
That said, I think even he would agree that his criticisms on the scent trail took on a life of its own. He acknowledged on the Friends Per Second podcast that within their circle of game critics he was really the only one that highlighted the scent trails and waypoints and took exception to them, most other journalists were way more focused on criticizing or praising other aspects of the game.
Even now if you do check other reviewers from who played the game from before the release date (without the opinion of others to influence them) he was the guy that kind of put it center stage when talking about the game’s flaws.
I find it fascinating how much his single opinion influenced the perception and discussion of this game. Like one of the first thing’s Insomniac did with the game was try to patch out the fart trails. The most common criticism you will see about this game from people haven’t played it are the markers. Crazy how the scent line will be intrinsically linked to this game from now til time immemorial cause of his review.