The sjw review by eurogamer on Kingdom Come: Deliverance

[Leadified]

DonFerrari said:

Leadified said:

Bold: You gave a poor example when using NiOh and I criticized that, that's all there is to it. I didn't say anything about Ghost of Tsushima because the game isn't out and I don't know if a fantasy game or if it's aiming for realism.

Occam's razor, it's highly unlikely samurai were anywhere near Europe because of the great distance, samurai were not explorers and there are no diplomatic links between Japan and European nations at the time. It's an extraordinary claim so it requires extraordinary evidence.

Devs never said anything about being realistic or not on Tsushijima, but that they are basing on a historic event.

So use Occam's razor to the not having black people on Bohemia 1400.

Well OK, let's examine what this reviewer said. 

We know of African kings in Constantinople on pilgrimage to Spain; we know of black Moors in Spain; we know of extensive travel of Jews from the courts of Cordoba and Damascus; we also know of black people in large cities in Germany.

This all seems alright, if there's any doubts about these facts then they can just be researched individually. I want to touch on the last line about black people in Germany in a few paragraphs though.

Czech cities Olomouc and Prague were on the famous Silk Road which facilitated the trade of goods all over the world. If you plot a line between them, it runs directly through the area recreated in Kingdom Come. "You just can't know nobody got sick and stayed a longer time," he says. "What if a group of black Africans came through and stayed at an inn and someone got pregnant? Even one night is enough for a pregnancy."

The problem here with connecting the Silk Road to Africans is the Silk Road was more of a connection between Asia and Europe instead of Europe and Asia. Bohemia is close to the Mongol successor states in Eastern Europe, so it wouldn't be hard to imagine the presence of Tartars, Cumans (who are in the game), and Mongols.

The reviewer said that there is evidence of black people being present in large German cities. Bohemia borders Germany so it's possible by proxy but this isn't solid proof or anything. The pregnancy bit is also quite an assumption, wouldn't travelers have just passed through without trying to start much trouble? If something like a pregnancy did happen it would have been an isolated case. More importantly though, the game takes place in a rural area and not in a large city, so the evidence the reviewer uses to prove his point isn't applicable here.

Overall this paragraph is not convincing and it requires a lot of assumptions for it to be true. So using Occam's razor you can ignore the assumptions for just being baseless assumptions and nothing more here.

It's not conclusive proof but it's readily available doubt to undermine Warhorse's interpretation. What muddies the water further is whose interpretation it overridingly is: creative director, writer and Warhorse co-founder Daniel Vavra's. He has been a vocal supporter of GamerGate and involved in antagonistic exchanges on Twitter. More recently, he wore the same T-shirt depicting an album cover by the band Burzum every day at Gamescom 2017 - a very visible time for him and his game. Burzum is the work of one man: Varg Vikernes, a convicted murderer and outspoken voice on racial purity and supremacy. He even identified as a Nazi for a while.

I'll just paste what Vavra said here:

The reviewer is jumping the gun here with "doubt" since the counter evidence provided is pretty weak. The main point that the reviewer uses to drive home is the presence of black people in large German cities, which is not rural Bohemia.

It's understandable to think Vavra could have an agenda if he associates with controversial groups/people like GamerGate and Varg.  But "could have" doesn't necessarily mean he does or that KCD represents his views. It's best just to independently verify what Vavra has claimed and then draw a conclusion from that.

So while we're at it, let's answer Aeolus' question in the OP: Reviewers should just keep this kind of crap to themselves. Modern day politics should stay out of gaming in my opinion. Do you agree? What do you think of this review?

I think Aeolus' anger is misdirected here, the problem is that this review is poorly written and relies on a baseless assumptions to drive it's point across. But if this game was actually racist and it was trying to promote a racial political agenda, then it would be worth it to discuss the politics behind the game. There's also games out there like Metal Gear Solid which are full of politics, so it would make sense for a reviewer to touch on that topic.

If games are a serious art form like books and films then the messages that they promote have to be held up to scrutiny.