NG3 RE ended up being way better than I expected, but it's still really mediocre in most areas.
The one area where it definitely isn't mediocre though, is the story, because it's just plain terrible. To start with, Ryu feels like a completely different character here. NG3 is torn between portraying him as this nice guy who is admired by his village and an assassin, slaying any human he meets without any remorse. The problem with this is that it's impossible to get behind the latter portrayal when in the prior games, about 90% of the enemies he killed were demons. It's also said by Muramasa that the Dragon Sword only has the ability to kill evil creatures, so the plot point about Ryu being cursed by all the people he has killed just ends up making no sense. Also, Troy Baker just does not fit the character, he makes Ryu sound like any average guy and for a character that's constantly described as this inhuman badass, it just feels jarring. Then there's Canna, who is a plot device written in the most generic and cringeworthy way possible and I couldn't take any scene with her seriously. The only real highlight of the plot is Regent, I think he's the only character in the series to have some personality, and while he is very entertaining to watch, he's not entertaining enough to justify what a muddled, overly serious mess of a plot this game has.
Atleast the combat is still fun, all the weapons from NG2 make a return here besides the flail and tonfa and this time, they have a ton of moves for you to play around with so it never gets old. The new steel on bone mechanic is pretty cool, in RE, it works as a counter where you press heavy attack as the enemy is glowing red to cut them down. It's more of a reactionary, somewhat defensive tool which is cool to see after how offensive based NG2 was, and the sound design for it is extremely crunchy and satisfying, so it's a welcome addition. My favourite part though, is probably the fact that the bow has infinite arrows and has auto aim so the sections where you have to use it are fun for once. RE brings back purchasable upgrades but since there is no essence in 3, RE instead uses karma as currency which is a neat change since it means how much karma you get will be tied to how good you are performing. It also means that the end of chapter ratings actually serve a purpose now.
So yeah, I like the combat, but the one thing that drags it down for me is the enemy variety, of which there is none. You'll be fighting generic soldier type enemies for most of your adventure, and when you're not, you're usually fighting enemies ripped straight out of the previous games. It gets pretty old. The environments are equally bland, and I'll probably forget every level in a few days. The bosses are pretty hit and miss here, with the worst one either being the Dinosaur who has way too much health or the final boss which is the definition of anticlimactic since you spend half the fight just fighting the same enemies you've been fighting for the last 3 hours as a meter builds up and it just takes forever.
Then there's other stuff that just feels unnecessary, like the occasional walking segment or the climbing QTEs. Also, I wish the curse played a bigger role in the gameplay, in RE, all it does is have Ryu fight enemies in this demon realm. It's not really much of a curse if all it does is have Ryu doing what he's best at is it?
The OST also sucks and I can't recall a single theme from this game besides the menu one.
Overall, I wouldn't call NG3 RE a bad game, and I did enjoy parts of it. However, out of the 3 games, this one has the worst story, soundtrack, level design and enemy variety. Throughout the 7 hours that I spent playing this game, I couldn't stop feeling like I wished I was playing NG2 instead since that game, for all its flaws, atleast knew what it wanted to be.
The one area where it definitely isn't mediocre though, is the story, because it's just plain terrible. To start with, Ryu feels like a completely different character here. NG3 is torn between portraying him as this nice guy who is admired by his village and an assassin, slaying any human he meets without any remorse. The problem with this is that it's impossible to get behind the latter portrayal when in the prior games, about 90% of the enemies he killed were demons. It's also said by Muramasa that the Dragon Sword only has the ability to kill evil creatures, so the plot point about Ryu being cursed by all the people he has killed just ends up making no sense. Also, Troy Baker just does not fit the character, he makes Ryu sound like any average guy and for a character that's constantly described as this inhuman badass, it just feels jarring. Then there's Canna, who is a plot device written in the most generic and cringeworthy way possible and I couldn't take any scene with her seriously. The only real highlight of the plot is Regent, I think he's the only character in the series to have some personality, and while he is very entertaining to watch, he's not entertaining enough to justify what a muddled, overly serious mess of a plot this game has.
Atleast the combat is still fun, all the weapons from NG2 make a return here besides the flail and tonfa and this time, they have a ton of moves for you to play around with so it never gets old. The new steel on bone mechanic is pretty cool, in RE, it works as a counter where you press heavy attack as the enemy is glowing red to cut them down. It's more of a reactionary, somewhat defensive tool which is cool to see after how offensive based NG2 was, and the sound design for it is extremely crunchy and satisfying, so it's a welcome addition. My favourite part though, is probably the fact that the bow has infinite arrows and has auto aim so the sections where you have to use it are fun for once. RE brings back purchasable upgrades but since there is no essence in 3, RE instead uses karma as currency which is a neat change since it means how much karma you get will be tied to how good you are performing. It also means that the end of chapter ratings actually serve a purpose now.
So yeah, I like the combat, but the one thing that drags it down for me is the enemy variety, of which there is none. You'll be fighting generic soldier type enemies for most of your adventure, and when you're not, you're usually fighting enemies ripped straight out of the previous games. It gets pretty old. The environments are equally bland, and I'll probably forget every level in a few days. The bosses are pretty hit and miss here, with the worst one either being the Dinosaur who has way too much health or the final boss which is the definition of anticlimactic since you spend half the fight just fighting the same enemies you've been fighting for the last 3 hours as a meter builds up and it just takes forever.
Then there's other stuff that just feels unnecessary, like the occasional walking segment or the climbing QTEs. Also, I wish the curse played a bigger role in the gameplay, in RE, all it does is have Ryu fight enemies in this demon realm. It's not really much of a curse if all it does is have Ryu doing what he's best at is it?
The OST also sucks and I can't recall a single theme from this game besides the menu one.
Overall, I wouldn't call NG3 RE a bad game, and I did enjoy parts of it. However, out of the 3 games, this one has the worst story, soundtrack, level design and enemy variety. Throughout the 7 hours that I spent playing this game, I couldn't stop feeling like I wished I was playing NG2 instead since that game, for all its flaws, atleast knew what it wanted to be.