After half an hour with The Last Guardian, I'm concerned - Polygon

Team Ico's long-awaited return could struggle to win over modern gamers

[Neonridr]

Well there stuff isn't for everyone. I have no doubt that the game will be beautifully crafted and probably will resonate a lot with some gamers. But the content isn't for me.

[Overload]

It sounds like their main problem was the way it controls, which sounds very similar to Shadow Of The Colossus. This game sounds like a mix of ICO and SOTC overall.

The previews for SOTC were very similar to the previews so far for the Last Guardian, realising the beauty but being concerned for the outcome based on control issues and SOTC turned out amazing. TLG has had a more troubled development obviously, but I'm confident that it will turn out well for fans of the series. I am interested to see how it reviews though and how much it's delays and troubled development will be mentioned during the process or if they just accept it for what it is.

[DeadlyOreo]

Also you've got to bear in mind that they'really probably only concerned because they're Polygon and they have to live up to their expectations of hating everything Sony related. Polygon are a joke.

[PoSTedUP]

@deadly- I literally came here to comment "of course you are, you're polygon".

The game plays like an ico game, that's what we want. Why would one be concerned when a game has all of the core elements in which made the past games great?

[Timesplitter14]

Controls in SOTC were great. Your character felt very physical and dynamic, which was extremely important for the overall coherence of the game's design and mechanics. A 100% responsive unstoppable-force type of character controller like Quake 3's wouldn't have felt right in this game. It would've clashed with the climbing/grabbing mechanics and such

I think TLG's biggest problem is that it's too much like Ico. After the excitement, freedom, uniqueness and sense of adventure SotC provided, it feels disappointing to go back to what seems to be a straightforward puzzle game. It doesn't let you express yourself through its gameplay like SotC did.

I can already imagine myself playing TLG and thinking "man I wish I was chasing a freakin huge flying serpent through the desert while standing up on my trusty horse like a circus acrobat, about to make an epic jump onto its wings with cool-as-hell orchestral music playing in the background". The most beautiful thing, to me, about SotC's design is that these situations were entirely your doing. None of it were cutscenes or on-rails gameplay segments that were pre-arranged by designers

[Lamboomington]

@DeadlyOreo

You and the rest of the n4g PS circlejerk are a joke.

Absolutely brilliant. Don't consider anything the author says, just say "Muh just bcoz you are polygon and you hate Playstation"

I'm not surprised though, it's what I see here every single time an anticipated PS exclusive gets an article like this, or even a low score. I'm not saying XBOX fanboys don't do the same. No one can accept an article like this about a game they like the look of.

[PoSTedUP]

@lamb. We don't have to care for what the author has to say, it's polygon.<-- Do you get it now? That's the reputation they gave themselves if you've been around for a while you would know this. They're gonna get thrashed forever no matter what.

[bouzebbal]

Haha polygoats worried about a PS exclusive..

[KOIMOJO]

I feel like everyone just has to have the most generic modern control scheme or people freak out. I go back and play older games all the time and I think one of the funnest parts is actually learning weird controls for a game and then to become proficient with them. Playing through Resident Evil 4 for the first time and I went from "huh, these are the controls everyone talks about, to hey this is pretty badass actually" lol.

[sk8ofmnd]

Agreed, but its almost like if so many things are amazing a somewhat mediocre controls does not hinder an otherwise 10 rated game.

[Aceman18]

Hey poly who gives a sh*t if your concerned.

[therealsasquatch]

(Hey poly who gives a sh*t if your concerned)
I remember people saying that about no man's sky and look how that turned out...

[Genuine-User]

Sorry Polygon but you're not in a position to talk about camera issues after the Doom fiasco :p

https://www.youtube.com/wat...
I can't help but laugh at the situation

On a serious note, I hope they improve the camera and controls before launch for the wider audience.

[justsomeoffdude]

Wow!! this is bad.. I've always suspected that these "reviewers" either don't actually play the games as intended or are just not gamers at all!

[Sunny_D]

For Pete sake's, Polygon lost any fucking credibility (I'm sure they lost it way before it) when they gave Gone Home GOTY for 2013.

[LemyAtom]

Up vote for you. Hadn't seen this. Seriously I rarely play FPS's but I'm better than that! Timesplitters was my first FPS with dual stick control/aiming. I played better than that even when I was trying to get used to the controls. Whoever "played" it clearly has zero credibility or hand eye coordination. I play tutorials and smart phone shooters better than that, even though the latter is touch screen controlled 😂

[IamTylerDurden1]

It looks amazing.

[Xkiller]

It surely does. Can't wait.

[Fullmetalevolust]

Agreed, I think there's a dedicated audience for the game and we have been waiting for it and we will overlooks some of the less refined mechanics because a great story, or the attempt to, is in progress.
from the previews I've read, none of them seem game breaking and they are putting last touches before it's final release. I am confident that I will enjoy it.

[Wh15ky]

*their*, there.

[Shubhendu_Singh]

LOL at people downvoting you just for saying "the content is not for me"

[Kurdishcurse]

oh look, some desperate, immature and small minded ps4 fanboys disliked your comment because they have a problem with reality. shocking to see this behavior in n4g!! shocking i say!!

[Aloy-Boyfriend]

"My 30 minutes of hands-on time with The Last Guardian was not bad, exactly. The game looks beautiful, its environments are stunning, and its puzzles are clever and satisfying, often with multiple layers to figure out. There's a core gameplay loop around solving a puzzle to get to a new room, then figuring out how to get your bird-dog friend to follow. That loop is strong, and it helps reinforce the relationship between the protagonist and the pet."

So the core gameplay is good and does its job according to him. Nice! That is all I care about really.

However...

[Aloy-Boyfriend]

"It feels awkward as hell when it comes to actually controlling the main character. The protagonist doesn't walk so much as he lurches in whichever direction you've pushed the analog stick. Much of the demo focuses on platforming, but his jumps have a stickiness to them, a sense of inaccuracy that could be played up as realistic weightiness in the right game but just feels frustrating here."

"...feels like a PS2 game."

I played SotC on PS3 when it got remastered for the 1st time, which is something I regret not doing when it originally came out since it was so good, and that was my exact feeling: stiffness, innacuaty when jumping and inputs. But the game suddenly grew on me and those fustrations became part of the experience and challenge. For example, the climbing in SotC may be frustrating compared to Uncharted, but that is what made climbing giants so good and challenging. You don't just press X to climb up, you have to hold R1 and watch for the stamina... People like me who started playing Demon Souls can relate to this. DS was such a divise game because it felt outdated and too punishing (checkpoints not being like modern games's autosaves), but once you learned and coped with those frustrations they became part of the experince

To most people in this gen it will feel outdated, but for Team Ico fans and more old school gamers they will feel challenging. This guys on the preview seems to be frustrated it is not as responsive as modern games. That's his only issue and that is understandable.

What concerns me is that the trolling and the reception may be only based on this instead of the game doing its thing.

[game4funz]

Sounds like an excuse. Controls should feel responsive and not frustrating. If you said you eventually overlook that because the game is good then I get that. Killzone 2 had a heavy realistic weight to a characters movement which was realistic and responsive. Same goes here with the controls... The character could move clumsily or whatever but as long as it's responsive and well done then it's fine.

I don't think it's good if you're holding onto something and you suddenly let go of it or fall off... Unless of course a game mechanic like stamina made that happen.

The controls and mechanics will be good or bad. Outdated shouldn't matter much since I think we can all agree older games had good responsive controls too.

I think you may be confusing game mechanics that make the game difficult.... Like dark souls... And then game mechanics that need more fine tuning and are glitchy like shadow of the colossus.

BTW I like sotc very much. It's awesome and in no way am I downplaying the game....its just this sounds to be me like the whole Bethesda glitches a plenty but it's okay attitude.

I want this game to be good. And besides other previews are saying similar things.

[fanboysmackdown]

Replying to your own post, you are a genius!

[rezzah]

@fanboysmackdown

You are a genius!

[Godmars290]

You're Polygon: your opinion is worthless...

Hell, I question if you even played the game much less played it competently.

[Vames]

IGN feels the same way. Kotaku is also concerned.

[Hoffmann]

IGN? That's the site that gave God Hand a 3/10 right? And Kotaku? Were they ever relevant? I mean..they are the same bunch of ..."Modern gamers" than the Polygon guys, right?

[Sm00thNinja]

@Hoffman let's be honest if every site on earth were concerned you'd have a reason to hate all of them

[OB1Biker]

I have more 'faith' in Polygon than IGN that says it all. At least Polygon seem more predictable ;)
That said Im sure its the type of game that cant please everyone.

[Gazondaily]

Lol all reviewers are the problem #illuminati #reptilian #remember3/11

[Majister-Ludi]

So who is a reliable source then Hoff because it sure as shit isn't you.

[pcz]

there is a reason why the game has been in development hell for damn near a DECADE.

There is something fundamentally wrong with this game

[gigoran]

kotaku is concerned?
hahahaha
oh wait you're being serious
let me laugh even louder
HAHAHAHAHAHA

[Vames]

@Hoffmann

Most previews so far haven't been showering the game with praise. Let's all go out and say they have something against Sony, and let's also talk about games they gave bad reviews that you think should have gotten a good review. At the end of the day, the game from the previews isn't looking so good after 10-years of wait.

[UCForce]

Well, I agree with you. But let's just wait the game release, it is important that the game going to be different in final release date.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

Phil Kollar was the author / journalist... He has also worked at Game Informer and from what I can see, he is not a Sony hater by any stretch. He gave high praise to his hands on with Gravity Rush 2 for PS4 btw.

[Godmars290]

Its not about being biased towards whichever hardware, rather the review site when it's credibility has come into question.

Hell, when the site first began. By both a big payout from a major console maker and a declared statement pretty much saying social/political bias will effect how subjects are covered over any other factor.

[Paytaa]

SoTC and Ico weren't aimed at mass market. Neither is TLG. It has it's own niche and the reason why TLG is a lot bigger is because of how long it's been in development. I expect disappointment from people who have never played a Team Ico game expecting some revolutionary modern gaming experience. Games like this preserve the old fashioned art type of games that were heavily present in the PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube days. Game looks great and definitely something I plan on buying.

[UCForce]

Agree on that one.

[Bluemaster77]

So you're saying they're making a game for the hell of it? These companies burn resources to get a return on investment.

[Red_Renegade]

how did you get that out of what he said?

[Paytaa]

Where did I say that? All I am aaying is that The Last Guardian isn't targeted towards every gamer, not even close. It fills a niche not occupied by many games today.

TLG will do fine sales wise for sure. Shadow of the Colossus has it's legacy to back it up, not the money it made. The Last Guardian will probably do the same albeit more popular than Ico or SoTC.

[trooper_]

Reread what he just said please.

[Relientk77]

Yippee more anti-Sony stuff from Polygon. Every. Single. Day.

Stay classy Polygon

[Bluemaster77]

I don't understand how this is "anti-sony" though its releasing exclusively on the system I fail to see how you conflate the two entities, being sony and the developer of this game.

Moving on, the concern is with how the game controls, which for obvious reasons is important. Would you rather Journalists gloss over these facts or would you rather them be brought to light so (potentially) the developer can make improvements.

[morganfell]

No, we would rather journalists start previewing and reviewing games for the target demographic instead of for themselves. It is too bad most gamers are so young they cannot remember when writers crafted articles with the central purpose being to inform the audience rather than beat their own ego filled chest and drone on about what matters to them.

[gangsta_red]

What you have to understand is that folks here want to read nothing but praise for a game that they are interested in. No one wants to read actual concerns, worries or possible issues that a highly anticipated game may have that these authors have ACTUALLY played.

Instead, these people who have NEVER played the game would rather attach some sort of hidden conspiracy of these reviewers being against Sony or as Morganfell thinks, a reviewer should like the genre of game they are reviewing instead of giving an honest opinion of it from their standpoint. As if he knows this person's interests on a personal level.

@Morganfell

"...than beat their own ego filled chest and drone on about what matters to them."

So you rather they lie and tell you want you want to hear in order to fill your self inflated self worth to justify this game you're interested in?

[Lamboomington]

Sad. You people find some way to do this for every remotely negative article/review of a popular or anticipated PS exclusive. Just sad to see. Even worse when you realize this kind of opinion is the most popular on the n4g comments section. This isn't exclusive to PS ofcourse, happens for all popular games. I guess it's just a result of more PS players on the site + a large % of people being fanboys in general.

Maybe actually address the points the author made ? No. It doesn't matter if the article made sense, or if the points were good points or not (which is what you should be discussing). Just "Hurr Durr polygon hate PS hurr so invalid durr"

[Relientk77]

Give me links to 5 positive Sony/Playstation game articles from Polygon.

Go ahead I'll wait

[jmac53]

@Relientk77 Looks like you are still waiting.

[gangsta_red]

@Relientk77

All you have to do is compare the scores of all Sony games to their MS games they have reviewed. They have consistently rated Sony games higher. For a site that supposedly hates Sony they sure do praise their games.

Can you give 5 positive articles from Polygon for Nintendo or MS? Would it even matter or change your mind?

[trooper_]

This isn't about positivity. It's about being objectional. Show me articles where Polygon has ever written an objectional review.

Go on.

[starchild]

@spectre_

The word "objectionable" refers to something offensive or unpleasant that causes people to be offended. You guys get offended by Polygon all the time, so I'm pretty sure that's not the word you meant to use. You probably meant to say "objective".

The thing is, though, reviews are not objective, they are fundamentally subjective. For example, I thought Quantum Break was a great game and so did many other reviewers, but there were also some reviewers that didn't like it. So who's right? What is the objective truth? I can point out many qualities that from my point of view seem objectively good, but another person might not see things the same way.

I think people like you and morganfell don't have a problem with reviewers applying their subjective preferences when it comes to harshly criticizing a Microsoft exclusive, you just can't stand it when it leads reviewers to have a negative opinion about a Sony exclusive.

[Majister-Ludi]

Yup unless every article sucks sonys dick they must be biased as hell. How dare they have an opinion different then yours. We should Lynch them.

[Rimeskeem]

As far as I can tell the main issues with the game (for previewers) has been he camera and the controls. Both those can easily be changed within the time.

[Majister-Ludi]

No they can't be changed easily. Name me one game where controls or camera was changed drastically this close to release. You can't because it's never been done. The camera and player movement won't change at all come release. So yes he did make valid points to bad people can't take off there fanboy goggles to be objective.

[GNCFLYER]

Its polygon. Enough said.

[masterfox]

Poligon concerned ? yep I'm so worried now! lol

[CrimsonWing69]

Lol, oh Polygon the same people that couldn't play Star Fox Zero or Doom... Man I wish this site would die off. How do people keep these guys going?

[Darkfist_Flames]

the only main issues with the game is the camera, while those who complained about the controls is saying that its similar to ICO /SOTC(which many didnt like back then too), which means me and many others who loved the previous games will have no problem with this.

[Artemidorus]

It's an outdated game with recent graphics so bound to have a mixed reaction

[Hoffmann]

Modern gamers like those that work for Polygon,com and were not able to play games like Doom halfway properly?

Modern gamers that would give up after 5 minutes in a classic Mega Man game because it is too hard for them?

[marioJP87]

I cant see this selling decent in this age of gaming.

[Bluemaster77]

I shared a similar opinion and got bashed for it. These guys simply missed their moment with the constant delays.

[marioJP87]

That's because of the users of this site. You are basically taking a chance at getting your account temporarily banned from commenting when you speak your opinion on anything about sony ... that these fanboys dont want to hear. They'll just flag you. I'm a multi-console owner and still get called a fanboy or troll for speaking my opinion. Pretty ridiculous.
Look at the disagrees on our comment for example and especially yours. You said nothing wrong and have more disagrees than agrees.

[AnubisG]

Ahh Polygon.... you are concerned with everything involving Sony.

[lastking95]

Lets be honest, if you're expecting a lot from this game you're in for disappointment. I'm not gonna trash this game like I did the order before launch, that was ignorant of me (even though I was right, NMS too)

[Tobsesan]

Polygon lol.... The guys that can't even aim with a controller (Doom).....

[Vames]

Sony fans love to talk about the good games for the PS, yet we've barely seen them, and guess what? A new PS4 is being released this year. They hype up the terrible games. The Order, Driveclub, and then NMS. I mean, look at NMS. A game where the developers lied to everyone and yet it became the top selling game on the charts for PS4.

Not a single critic is praising this game, but the Sony fans will eat up anything. There have been more low-rated exclusives since 2013 for the PS4 than high-rated. But hey, who cares lol.

[Nyxus]

Try harder.

[Bluemaster77]

Try thinking for yourself

[moegooner88]

He probably can't. Poor thing.

[P_Bomb]

What's low rated to you? 8? 7? smh

[Bluemaster77]

There is a massive amount of blind loyalty on this site. And its ironic because it ultimately hurts them .

[P_Bomb]

Its also okay to look forward to something

[trooper_]

Blind loyalty because someone is looking forward to a game?

Right....

[trooper_]

At least Sony has diversity when it comes to games. But gee, let's ignore that, right?

[sammarshall102]

Recore is diverse

[Stogz]

And still more high rated games than anything on Xbox one. But hey, who cares lol.

[MilkMan]

Any Team Ico game is not for everyone. Not everyone sees the Mona Lisa and think "what a great piece of artwork."
That being said, I was never under any delusion that this game would play any radically different way than their other endeavors.
I just thought it would be more realized, faster with higher fidelity.
If this game can deliver eve on the level of Ico or Shadow of the Colossus, it should be a worthy entry.

[Sadist3]

I'm not with polygon and I'll say the same thing...the game is overhyped. Just because we own PS4's doesn't mean we have to live in denial. As with No Man's Sky, people are hyping it up because it's a PS exclusive. The game looks wack plain and simple

[Nyxus]

People are hyping it up because of ICO and Shadow of the Colossus. No Man's Sky has nothing to do with it.

[Darkfist_Flames]

we are hyped about this game because we played this kind of games on the playstation, cant say the same with xbox, which you only like racing games and shooters, while we like games like gravity rush 2, the last guardian, world of final fantasy, ratcht and clank and more, your the one in denial because unlike you xbox fanboys we mostly support the games we like, remember sunset overdrive? that game you hyped because it was exclusive and got all the positive reviews FLOPED(i guess it wasnt shooty enough).

[SCW1982]

I for one am glad it may not win over "Modern Gamers." Games these days lack soul. And modern gamers that started with PS3 and 360 gen thinking a game is good based on how long it is and if it has multiplayer included are a cancer to the industry.

[deafdani]

Soooo, people that have a different viewpoint from you about what constitutes a good game for them, are a cancer to the industry?

Okay.

[SCW1982]

If the view point is based off those two criteria than yep they are.

[starchild]

@SCW1982

Well, in my opinion, people that think only the types of games they like should be made are the true cancer to the industry.

[Teh_Leviathan]

After all this time, it looks like absolute garbage.

[Teh_Leviathan]

Downvote all you want, you ignorant people. It looks terrible.

"But it's on PS4, so I must convince myself it's gonna be mind-blowing." f**k outta here

[P_Bomb]

It's just not a mainstream style. Tired of games that all look and play like each other. How many times has New York been done, *cough* the Division *cough*? Dudebro design's catered to enough as is. It's good to freshen up the stale every now and then, open a window.

[Teh_Leviathan]

I'm all for games bringing a fresh approach. But as I said, this just looks terrible. Good luck convincing yourself otherwise when it comes out and bombs a week later.

[game4funz]

I would like to implore the Sony only fans to please please do not take the previews as an attack to you or the game or to Sony.

If the game has problems accept it. And hope they get fixed. I'm tired of reading comments from users attacking the competitions games while defending their own to death.

Also realize these previews and all reviews are simply opinions. Other gamers and reviewers don't have to praise the game simply because you like it. And furthermore those reviews even if bad don't mean the game is bad.

#endfanboytrend

[Majister-Ludi]

Judging by the amount of disagrees I think you won them over lol.

[game4funz]

I think so too.
They're a tough crowd. Hopefully one day they'll soften up. XD

[UCForce]

Well, it's true. But the thing is this, this is internet. You can do whatever you want but you can piss people off and they can piss you off, too. And @Majister, I can understand you, but how can you do if you into console war ? Will you escape or stay here and fight for your MS loyalty ? I'm not trolling, I see your comments and I know what side you on. Polygon have been with MS long enough. The Preview of TLG is a mix which I agree, but for Polygon is something more.

[andrewsquall]

Polybone is concerned about a 100% PS4 console exclusive? Oh no, now I have extreme doubts about this game.

With that obvious statement out of the way, good, maybe the game will better people's expectations at launch then. I still don't understand how gaming journalist "previews" work in the the world, ever. Years ago there were positive previews for Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness. How???? The first level of that game sums up all of its problems right there. How did these journalists miss this back in the day?
More recently, most "previews" for Far Cry Primal were positive. The same publications scored the game with average/meh reviews. Then why were you praising it so much only 2 months beforehand? What changed your expectations so much?
It works sometimes. Back in the day, six months before release, IGN said that Uncharted Drake's Fortune had bad gunplay with certain guns. Shotguns could get kills easily at long distances, things like that. IGN were happy to report months later that ND took this on board and tweaked it.

People are always quick to say that reviews are misleading for a game but its these kind of Previews that you have to take with a pinch of salt.

[UCForce]

I agree.

[vikingland1]

I have to say I agree with the part where they say they don't like the way the main character lurches. I felt the same way when I played ICO but I fell in love with the game anyways because of the art style and the sound and the story and the feeling of loneliness and the feeling of vertigo. So in the end I'm sure I'll love TLG too.

[Fishy Fingers]

I'm sure his opinion will be downplayed due to the source, but as no one here has had hands on time his opinion should still carry some weight, main concern being the controls and this is certainly not the first time it's been mentioned, by numerous sources.

Probably to late in the day to do much about it which is a shame as everything else looks great, but if it's more frustrating than enjoying to actually play it could become a chore. No doubt I'll be looking to the reviews before I commit to buy.

[tulholdren]

Sony exclusive I was wondering when the haters we're going to post there opinion on this game. Good thing most people that have played the other games know what they are getting into.

[jznrpg]

Screw modern gamers , this is for Ico and SoTC fans- This isnt meant to be a commercial success, this is what makes PlaysStation special, games that not everyone loves, but enough do and so they make them for the fans, games like this make the ecosystem thrive, you need niche to appeal to everyone. Jrpgs,Indies. Brawlers,Bullethell, shooters , sports, racing strategy etc. Not all of them sell well individually but they do move consoles as a whole and that is why own PS since ps1. Nintendo fell off a bitand Sega died so PS is your only hope to have all of these .

[Iceball2000]

Polygon...* moves on *

[IamTylerDurden1]

It's been getting great feedback. Team Ico sort of has a pedigree, maybe you shouldn't be concerned?

[Keregan]

Boring, clunky and ugly.....so far

[gigoran]

from the team that gave us "spin around in a circle and not be able to shoot anything so doom is a sucky game" comes "wow this hyped game is stupid because we are professionals and because we said so"

[Fishermenofwar]

of course you are....

[fanboysmackdown]

How dare they criticize a Sony title?Don't they know the fannies will throw their soothers!

[corroios]

Sad site. I hope the money you are getting is enough to be like this.

[TheEvilResident1997]

was gonna read the article but then seen it was written by polygon.

[Xkiller]

Polygon should stick to xbox, playstation fans don't need this biased website.

[sampson3121]

"The game seems to have a hard time determining what you actually want it to do from button presses alone. On several occasions, I tapped the jump button to reach a swinging rope, only to have the main character instead shift direction and climb on top of a nearby railing."

i think i know what your problem is.....

you suck at gaming. put down your pen and try gaming more often.

[DrShoe]

It's been well established that Polygon "journalists" lack the necessary skills to play games. Some have theorised that this is because they all have worthless Women Studies degrees and are actually not gamers at all.

[Starcommand]

article goes up about an opinion on a game - comments section erupts in a console war .

i dont know why i thought it would be any different to be honest

[jmac53]

This article coming from the same guy who gave The Last of Us a 7.5. Pretty sure he will be given the Last Guardian review since he has an agenda against Sony.

[NotEvenMyFinalForm]

lol polygon

for context: https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[XStation4pio_Pro]

seems to be a recurring theme with exclusives lately.

[Christopher]

Since when is it a concern for gaming journalists to worry about how many people like a game they played rather than just the quality of the game itself?

[Red_Renegade]

since people started making journalists think that they're opinion means more than gamers' opinions, prolly.

[trooper_]

Then this game isn't for you. Case closed.

[_LarZen_]

The game looks outdated and probably plays like one. I wont be surprised if this game ends up being a long wait for nothing.

[Christopher]

And we all know how bad those outdated looking games are today. SMB? Crap now. Zelda? Shit. /s

Not saying this game will be good, and you can definitely criticize it for its lackluster graphics in this day and age, but how does playing like an outdated game make it bad considering how many outdated games are still at the top of many greatest games of all time lists?

[Silly gameAr]

Don't think I care about Polygon's opinion on anything gaming.These guys couldn't even play Doom right.

[madmonkey01]

Polygon are an xbox site, so as a playstation gamer i pay no credence to their reviews.

[inStereo]

Man, it's gonna SUCK if the control scheme is the deal-breaker for this game... I've been looking forward to it for so long, and that would be a huge letdown.

[Snappy]

Of course your disappointed it polygon

[Lonnie18]

Of course your concerned, and your right to be because it's time to get the bad press rolling for another Sony exclusive!

[NecoTehSergal]

Of course Polygon is concerned, it's a Playstation exclusive that might do well - so they HAVE to be the ones to stir up Negativity about it, even though they basically admit to have had a fun time, it's just, NAW, Playstation game? I must imply SOMETHING IS WRONG ABOUT IT! Then give it a 6 or 7 out of 10!

[Deeke]

If it weren't for Vox Media dollars, Polygon would just be another amateur blogsite.

[SH4RPest1]

This is crazy... If this were an Xbone game, everyone would be crapping all over this...

Horizon Zero Dawn might be the exclusive to get.

[quent]

From the people who gave Evolve a 9/10

[Saito]

Look at the fake concerns of people who will not buy this game trashing the ones whose looking forward to it but try to act"neutral" but show their intentions as clear as day man you plebs are dumb sloppy

[trouble_bubble]

Game could score 10's and there are people here who wouldn't buy it. Fact. They're so concerned, yet don't even play the games they bitch and moan about all the time. It's the same half dozen Xbox guys in every critical PlayStation article. Most of them are already in here. Just waiting for sandwich to show up

[SynestheticRoar]

Polygon has anxiety because there is nothing remotely like this, on that other system thier so enamored with. Oh the controls feel so different. Help Oh the cam. STFU. Your so fake its ridiclous.

[The7Reaper]

I really don't get the hype around this game it doesn't seem interesting to me

[Skillz1215]

1 second with polygon, I'm depressed...

[Simmo3D]

The game looks sh*t in my opinion. It has looked sh*t since the original PS3 reveal. I could never understand the big deal with this game.

[zodiac909]

If it handles anything like Shadow of the Colossus, I see no problem here.

[daynnight365]

It's impossible to live up to the hype

[Gwiz]

I'm concerned by its long development cycle.This game was announced in 2009.So i'm not very keen on blindly buying this.

[franwex]

Sounds like another over hyped ride guys. Keep expectations in check.

[PistolsAtDawn]

Oh no....start preparing the negative FH3/ Gears reviews....we have another NMS/PS4 Pro reveal coming....

[Yui_Suzumiya]

Go home Polygon, you're drunk xD

[annoyedgamer]

"No playable female character"

4/10
-sexist
-racist
-low quality

[kaiserxblue]

Oh boy here we go again, No man's sky, Star Fox Zero, Quantum break and now this? Wow this is the yeard of Dissapintments ..... oh and hold on to your hats there we still missing Zero Horizon..... So what's the point of bringing new and "powerful" consoles when the games are shitty?

[trouble_bubble]

Games not out for 3 more months. Zero Dawn isn't even this year genius. Gears 4 will bomb way before any of that happens if the bland beta was any indication.

[kaiserxblue]

Oh yeah I forgot about Zero Dawn 2017, hard to keep up with games and all. Don't get your hopes to high for gears of war 4, as much as it like gears of wars, I've learned throught out the years that hype it's something you shouldn't take it for granted...no exceptions.

[goldwyncq]

So no one is ever allowed to criticize a Sony exclusive according to some of you guys huh? Everyone who does so must have a hidden agenda and are out for blood against anything Sony creates.

If this was an Xbox or Nintendo exclusive being criticized I don't think anyone in this site would call them out for it.

[PistolsAtDawn]

Seems like it. It has esp ramped up after NMS bombed and the PS4 Pro Reveal was a disaster. It's like the fanboys are clutching onto their BELIEF that Sony still has the best exclusives (don't trust Metacritic, it's twisted by people just like on this board)anyone with both X1/PS4 or all the consoles can see that PS exclusives get WAY more benefit of the doubt than X1 games (i.e. Bloodborne has MASSIVE load times and is a "masterpeice" ReCore is more fun, you die less with shorter load times....5/10)....if they lose that...then Sony will have literally NO advantage against MS when it's Pro vs Scorpio. Seems to be why there is the extra hard push against ReCore...which yes could use a patch, but is a fantastic game....and why the pitchforks are out in defense of a game that none of these people have played.

@P My data isn't old...I was just talking about when the reviews were done at release....even before the patch, reviewers just completely looked past it with the score even when they admitted it was an issue and in several cases said that it would certainly be patched, so they ignored it.

@Tit I have all the consoles and have every gen, I'll just play the best games no matter where they are. Sony USED to be able to say they had the best exclusives....now it just seems like they get the benefit of the doubt in reviews BECAUSE people expect them to have the best games. Like UC4 was called GOTY and 10/10 more than 6 months before it released....it was a GOOD game, but not GOTY or 10/10. You can't trust Metacritic and such anymore, it's politics not unbiased opinions. That's like saying "my religion is better than your religion because my bible says so"

[P_Bomb]

Your data is sooo old. Bloodborne's load times were patched and significantly reduced over a year ago. I should know. I waited to buy the game til it was patched. RECores were always longer.

[DJ]

We've also only been shown what seems to be the first hour of the game. I wouldn't fret just yet.

[RenegadeRocks]

The videos look amazing. Looks like a combo of ICO and SOTC. Seems like another dream world I would never want to leave.

[plmkoh]

It's polygon, even if they were playing a mobile endless runner game, they will find a way to run backwards.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

On one hand, have faith. This isn't the final build.

On the other hand, if it was really good they would have released it way back in the day.

[Segata]

I love the idea of Team Ico games. I just have not enjoyed them. 3 games that have a similar vibe but I enjoyed more but not saying better is Lost in Shadow on Wii,rain on PS3 and Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom on 360. I was really looking forward to rime on PS4 but now that it was all bullshit it saddens me. I do want TLG to do well as even if I do not enjoy Team Ico it might get some others to try again making similar games. Also just nice to have games today not filled with blood and shooting ( I can enjoy those as well but variety is nice).

[Ristul]

They should change name to xboxygon.

[zb1ftw777]

Anybody with half a brain cell knows that updating old assets for a half finished game is much harder than creating a new game.

The graphics and gameplay look very outdated.

The game is a great idea from 10 years ago that simply doesnt hold water in todays era.

[rezzah]

Polygon + Anything Sony Related = Negative.

[PistolsAtDawn]

This site + Anything MS related = Negative. This site + Sony = can do no wrong no matter what the facts say.

[xPaYDaYx]

Most complaints in this article are pretty sound. Ico was a terrible platformer and pretty boring imo. I don't know why they would bother returning the the roots when they could have gone forward with SoTC. It's a real shame that all anybody will be doing in this game is running around listening to really soothing music and solving puzzles. Imagine what we could have had...

[Markusb33]

Maybe not for everyone but I read an article and saw an interview where game journalists played it and was impressed how interesting it was and how good the puzzles are. We will soon see. You can't live up to 10 years Dev time no matter what you release.

[TWB]

More like... Lolgon

[feraldrgn]

30 minutes is about the length of a tutorial.

It's like saying:
"Well I just saw the introduction of the main character in this movie & I'm concerned"

[feedthereaper]

Take everything fan-based out, and if this early preview is a reflection of what media reviews are going to be like, then it will flop massively commercially and the extensive time taken to develop and constantly push it back will not be well liked when the sales figures show it bombed. Someone is gonna get fired from this!

That is in no reflection on the fact that some gamers may love the game, but games these days cant cost millions to develop for years and years and only satisfy a small portion of gamers who love the quirky game style or controls. That is what Indie games are for, to take risks and try things on a smaller budget scale. If you spend the money they have, the resources they have and the huge delays they have, they need to hit sales figures that put it in the Number 1 spot of the sales charts for at least 5 or 6 weeks....... will this honestly do that? Even judging by the comments on this article, 50% of you are already saying you wont be interested in it or you will wait to see what the reviews say (and they will say pretty much what this preview said as the media are a fickle bunch!)

Whether it looks beautiful, is unique, or even 1 in 5 people love it with fanatical like cult worshipping, the reality is that the longer and costlier it becomes to develop the more people you have to get to love your product and buy it and I just do not see it doing that. Best case scenario is that it gets 6/10 reviews and gets enough sales for a couple of weeks to recoup a portion of their expenditure.

If you want to create a game like this, that is going to divide a lot of gamers and only likely to get a mediocre sales figures and small fanbase,you really need to stick to being a small indie developer and keeping costs as low as possible.

[trouble_bubble]

Um, the reviewer seemed to like it. The controls gave hi some concern cuz his character grabbed something in a jump he didn't want to, kinda like assassins creed which still sells a ton.

Oh and one puzzle he got stuck on when the animal wasn't doing what he wanted it to, which they still managed to figure out and which they can tweak anyways in the next 3 months. Look at how much the Witcher 3 buggered up for people at launch or Fallout 4 still does with dlc. Are the Witcher and fallout bombs too?

Don't use the comments on this site as a barometer for anything. You've got guys like pistols calling NMS a bomb even though it sold over a million its first week which is one of the biggest debuts for a new exclusive IP we've had this gen full stop. Number 1 week 2 as well. But the Xbox guys will insist it's a bomb and games like ReCore that score 10% lower on metacritic or games like sunset overdrive which sell half what NMS has already done are the true pinnacle of this industry. GTFO with that. lol.

[WharenPeace]

Oh No! A special snowflake is concerned at Polylolygon. Quick call the whambulence! Sorry lolygon, after the Doom fiasco and the years of clickbait anti-gamer articles, your opinions count for nothing.

[2cents]

If it plays like ICO and Shadow then they have essentially given the fans exactly what they wanted. What is there to complain about.

Team ICO have NEVER pandered to anyone, they do their own thing and it has served them excellently. Their works are real art in games, I hope they NEVER try to 'get with the times' and remain true to their art, style and narrative.

From a true fan.

[LemyAtom]

Came here after watching the video. Seriously is a 5 year old with no gaming experience playing? There's a reason why people still retro game and why dark souls et al is so popular - not everyone wants a watered down half hour tutorial explaining that the X button is jump (I know it's on screen but you know what I mean with hand holding).

The person playing in the video must be playing one handed or something. How difficult is it really to jump on a ledge? Even if the controls get tweaked the perfection that Ico andSotC are means I'm not even a little bit worried. They don't rush things which leads to gaming perfection. So what if it has 10 years+ delay....the game will not be released until it's refined to perfection.

[BenRC01]

IGN and gamespot saying similar. it's gonna feel hugely last gen and not in a good way. rose tinted specs ain't saving this.

[P_Bomb]

Minecraft looks and plays like a dinosaur yet did just fine. More than fine. The thing about controls, is you eventually get used to them within the context of the game.

Resident Evil, Heavy Rain, Metroid Prime, Silent Hill all had tank controls yet went on to be critical and commercial hits. MGS2 and MGS3 had fixed cameras that were "last gen" compared to newcomers like Splinter Cell. Witcher 2 and 3 have long been criticized for bad combat controls, but people who stuck it out with all those came to see a bigger picture. Enjoyment. People should maybe wait for someone to actually FINISH TLG too for that bigger picture.

[cheeko]

im confused on wtf is going on in that gameplay demo... this game looks more fail than Ride to Hell: Retribution. yeh, yeh, the game looks like it works here... its still boring looking gameplay, you wanna parkour play Assassins Creed. you want to play as a weird dog dragon thing play spyro... or the hundreds of other games where you can do most of the things in this game. seems like they tried way too hard, or just dont really get gamers at all.. (THIS IS ALL JUST MY OPINION THOUGH.)