My heart has sunk. The image you posted on the front page for this article — combined with the other plot points you've revealed in other headlines — has been enough for my brain to triangulate what I'm looking at. And even if my brain is wrong, it sucks to have been primed to make such connections that relate to a collection of narrative/lore content in the game that I haven't yet experienced in the game for myself.

Part of me is disappointed in Polygon for so regularly revealing content in headlines and thumbnails. But I'm probably as disheartened as I am because I'm disappointed in myself. For years, I've enjoyed the Polygon brand and many of its content creators, and that has lead to my feeling a connection with Polygon and a certain level of faith in them. I somehow considered them something less than a friend but more than a business. And because of those feelings, even in the face of Polygon's repeated revelations, I thought that surely they would change for the better; that with simple solutions to these issues readily available, surely they would be able to adjust and arrive at a solution to this ongoing issue that pleased everyone. I somehow thought this even after Polygon published an opinion piece that heavily implied (if not outright stated) the contrary. It's sobering and saddening to realize the extent to which I deluded myself.

I think I'm ready to accept reality now though. My trust hasn't been betrayed because Polygon isn't my friend and they don't owe me anything. They're a business and they can post whatever they want on their site. And it's my responsibility to recognize Polygon's patterns and understand that as long as there are things I don't want revealed, every time I open Polygon's front page I'm taking a risk. And that if I truly want to avoid such risks, I'm the fool for continuing to do the thing that exposes me to them.

I haven't yet decided what this means for me. I like many of the discussions I have with fellow commenters. I like a good deal of the articles. But I clearly need to avoid the front page entirely.

*It should probably go unsaid but I haven't read this article.

In Reply To @ArmadilloFourYou are misunderstanding what OP is saying; it's not that Nintendo didn't show Ganondorf at all, it's that this specific form wasn't revealed. If you compare the picture Polygon posted to the images in the video you posted, you will discover that they are very different.

In Reply To @EdenFoxI could be wrong but I assume nobody's raising this point because it's a realization most people made around the time of FF7R and FF15. Square-Enix has been giving up on the idea that FF games can succeed as non-action RPG's for at least a decade now, which is unfortunate considering how many fans want that kind of experience.

In Reply To @UserI get the impression that nobody is feeling negative about the feature itself, but rather the need for the feature.

In Reply To @anti-youI think you may be reading too much into things because OP didn't mention linearity. There's plenty to dislike about the structure of FF13 beyond its linearity.

In Reply To @MrPleebusCloud, Squall, Zidane, Vaan, Lightning, Noctis

and of course, Clive