While there is a niche for atmosphere heavy games with minimal gameplay, as evidenced by Gone Home and Dear Esther, its not what I'm looking for. Shadow of the Colossus was a beautiful game dripping with atmosphere that also had fun and unique gameplay. I can't name another game where the objective is to climb massive golem like entities and slaughter them one by one. But The Last Guardian... the gameplay just looks derivative and by the numbers. Push a cart, trigger and event. Jump from one platform to another. The atmosphere might be something you could lose yourself in, but for me personally, and I'm sure for many others in the thread, without engaging gameplay the quaint and peaceful atmosphere lends itself to boredom instead of tranquility.
I understand what you're saying, but derivative? From a 6 minute gameplay clip? Ok. You did the same push stuff, pull levers mechanics in both Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. The vast majority of the reason why those games are as loved as they are is because of the atmosphere, and the emotional connection you form with Yorda and Aggro/The Wanderer during the game. Shadow of the Colossus is a clunky game, gameplay wise, but yes, it is unique, and it's one of my favorite games of all time, but the gameplay was, for me, at least, secondary to how lost I got in the world.
The demo for the Last Guardian captivated me from beginning to end. I couldn't stop staring at the environments, the art direction, the detail, and me and my wife were both speculating as to what the setting of the game was, if it was before or after Ico and SOTC, or if the cat/dog/bird thing was a creature that eventually becomes a colossus. The mystery and amazing art direction is why we're so excited for Team Ico games. I refuse to judge a game based off 6 minutes of gameplay, and I remember feeling similarly underwhelmed when Shadow of the Colossus was first revealed. I remember thinking it would never compare to Ico, and when I finally got the finished product, I was blown away.
While I don't have any expectations for how I'm going to feel concerning TLG, I'm reasonably confident that the game will move me in an emotional way, and wow me with its stunning art design. For now, that's enough for me.