The most obvious addition, for example, was the improvement to the framerate. A big nagging point for those that played the earlier version, the choppy movement of the hero and his horse was probably the biggest concern I had after playing the original build earlier this month. Apparently, the ICO team from Sony Japan had the same concern, though, as the on-floor reps tell us that the production crew has definite plans to optimize the code for the best framerate possible. Right now there is still a little stutter, but not very much.
On a related note the E3 build also supports progressive scan mode. But unfortunately, none of the televisions that the game is hooked up to supports it (but at least the option to turn it on is in there). Similarly, the animations of the character and the giants have also been cleaned up and come across much more realistically. So while the creatures looked believable when stabbing them before, now when you jab the first beast in the back of his leg he stumbles with the specific pain and annoyance you'd expect.
The E3 differences weren't limited to just the visuals, though, as the build also had a couple of gameplay alterations that changed things. The reflective sunbeam locator activated by holding your sword towards the sky, for instance, now reveals your enemy's weak point in a more obviously. Before, the indicator was pretty dull and forced your eyes to do some searching. With the latest fix, however, colossi weaknesses are bathed in a brighter light with a distinctive tattoo symbol to accompany them. Invisible barriers have been added to the vast landscape as well (as a means to corral players for E3 so that they don't get lost), but when the final version ships later this year, those barriers will be removed.
