address comments

vms/platformvm/state/state.go

@@ -665,10 +665,10 @@ func New(
 	}
 
 	if err := s.sync(genesisBytes); err != nil {
-		// Drop any errors on close to return the first error
-		_ = s.Close()
-
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, errors.Join(
+			err,
+			s.Close(),
+		)
 	}
 
 	return s, nil
@@ -1719,17 +1719,17 @@ func (s *state) Close() error {
 }
 
 func (s *state) sync(genesis []byte) error {
-	isInitialized, err := isInitialized(s.singletonDB)
+	wasInitialized, err := isInitialized(s.singletonDB)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf(
 			"failed to check if the database is initialized: %w",
 			err,
 		)
 	}
 
-	// If the database is empty, create the platform chain anew using the
-	// provided genesis state
-	if !isInitialized {
+	// If the database wasn't previously initialized, create the platform chain
+	// anew using the provided genesis state.
+	if !wasInitialized {
 		if err := s.init(genesis); err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf(
 				"failed to initialize the database: %w",