Boyyyy this topic is the near the upper crust of elitist gamer culture. I watched that video and honestly don't know if many of my friends would fare much better at the game, if at all? In my eyes, it's not Polygon's job to sell a particular audience on a game. If I'm a movie critic, and I've typically not understood (or been down on) Darren Aronofsky's work, that doesn't mean my opinion and understanding of his latest work is any less valid. Or, put another way, one doesn't need to be an art aficionado to know if they like a piece of art or have perfectly valid opinions on it.
I also see this from the perspective as a game developer. If I put a game in front of a random person (especially an unfinished one) there's a high chance something is just not going to read correctly or certain mechanics will not be as easy for them as they would with a seasoned game player. Maybe this board's members are particularly hostile because they love to see themselves as "the hardcore elite of the elite" and are pissed that a "hardcore game" is getting played by somebody not in their game playing class. In my opinion - get outta here with that nonsense. People should feel welcome to play, critique, and dissect anything about a game even if they have no experience. In fact, those feedback are sometimes the most revelatory of all.
There's been a lot of talk in development circles about how gross game culture has become in terms "core" players feeling like video games are theirs and that those without their skills, background, understanding, appreciation, etc. are unworthy and uninvited. This is almost the perfect example of that in action.