No matter the impression footage gave, losing a Hideki Kamiya game is a crying shame. Him and his teams consistently surprise and delight, and rarely even in more immediately impressive showing games are all the nuances and specialties of said games showcased. There's always a richness to the game systems that continue throughout the experience and well into second and third playthroughs, with strong replay value and secrets to unlock.
They're consistent in these qualities, somehow blending straight character action with a sense of discovery and growth as you learn and master mechanics and the nuances within. And basically every single Kamiya game is like this, dating all the way back to his work with Capcom.
I know he's not a sole factor in the quality of his games, but respect where respect is due, and much of my hype for Scalebound can be directly attributed to his portfolio and how each and every one of his games has resonated with me. I might have been a bit lukewarm on the footage so far, but I was sold on the title on talent alone. To lose that is a loss for everyone on principle.
Maybe it was a disaster, maybe it didn't work out, maybe Platinum is at fault, maybe Microsoft, maybe nobody; who knows. But as of writing we'll never actually know what Kamiya had cooking, and that saddens me.
Props to Kamiya and the rest of the crew at Platinum for giving it a solid crack, and hopefully the title and team can find footing elsewhere soon.