They lost that credibility back in 2006 with God Hand as far as I am concerned. Even before that point, they said or complained about some of the dumbest shit. Too much water in Wind Waker my ass.
God Hand is a bad game with a cool and unique combat system.
It's a game that I enjoy, and actually own on multiple systems, but my enjoyment of it doesn't mean it isn't a bad game.
It's visually ugly, with poor level design and mostly terrible voice acting, characters, and writing. However, the combat system is interesting enough that it elevates the rest of the game to me. Having one exceptionally good element does not fix or excuse every other part of the game being sub-par.
Conversely though, every part of a game being brilliant except for the gameplay also doesn't make for a good game. Like Red Dead Redemption 2 is an amazing artistic and graphical achievement, but it fucking sucks to play and I never got past chapter 2.
I would rather play God Hand than Red Dead Redemption 2, but I also don't think that God Hand is the better game. As someone who likes character action games I enjoy its unique combat system, but without that combat system the game would have absolutely nothing to offer. Red Dead Redemption 2, while I don't like the gameplay, has a tons to offer, which is why it's a beloved game. Bad controls and gameplay are a deal breaker for me, but they aren't for a lot of people, and a good combat system is exciting for me, but it isn't for everyone.
To score a game as objectively as possible (which is what people keep nagging reviewers to do) you have to take all of the elements of the game and give them equal weight. In that sense I can absolutely see how someone would rate God Hand as a 4/10 and Red Dead Redemption 2 as a 9/10, regardless of the fact that I would rather interact with God Hand.