I urge people to evaluate games on their own.
I've only been in the hobby a few years, but I've already seen a repeated pattern where $podcaster or $pinsider shits on $newgame, rallys people behind them, and the game is unjustly harmed by it.
It is Pinside's fault there aren't enough POTC to go around. And being new at the time, I was swept up in it too.
Recall some of the vitriol lobbed at Wonka and amplified by Pinside:
"It sounds like a slot machine" - Literally not true. I dug up footage of the Wonka slots and compared side by side. False pinside narrative.
"The game is worthless without audio on the video clips." - An incredibly stupid take in my view, because nobody wants to see the same clips 1000 times. Once you've played them a few times you start skipping them. Do you want a 10k DVD player with bad controls, or a pinball machine?
Turns out, Wonka is a very good game and designed for longevity in your collection. It's a shame the podcast/Pinside hivemind talked some people out of enjoying it.
Nobody's opinion on a game matters but your own. Have an open mind, don't expect perfection (nothing in life is), and remember this stuff is for having fun!