Just played through the first half of chapter 3. It's like NGS 1.5, which is a good thing. I mean, pretty much everything was confirmed from the demo. The difficulty level on warrior is pretty damn easy, but it's keeping my attention.
--The graphics are pretty good. I get a fair amount of tearing. Only had one noticeable spot of slowdown (outside the DOATEC building in ch.3.)
--The pre-order costume is kinda ghey
--Defense is less about invincible frames and more about actual blocking. You don't get thrown as much, but the attack strings are longer and the enemies do this weird thing where they sort of "shift" behind you during their strings. This puts pressure on both sides if you're getting mobbed, so you can go into guard crush a lot easier. This was in NG2, but you usually get thrown before hitting guard crush.
--Throws are not nearly as much of a worry, though in the demo they were more frequent and accurate in mentor and MNM. You can also counter throws like any other blocked move. you just have to hit an attack while they're in the animation of grabbing you, but before they touch you. Not sure if this was in NG2.
--Seems like most of the fights are remixed, usually to be easier. Pinky demons don't show up until you hit the pit in chapter 3.
--The second encounter with the buddha statue sucks less and is a bit harder. Rassetsu is pretty tough too.
--Weapon upgrades are weird. AFAIK, it's not once every shop, it's whenever the game feels like giving you an upgrade. I've only been given one so far. as a result, there's nothing to spend money on, so i've already got like 50,000 karma...
--Crystal skulls still don't seem to do jack shit. the reward system in NGB/S was awesome. lame.
--All of the little annoying puzzles are gone.
--There's no scoring system in the campaign. With the way these fights are laid out, which are more like NGB/S instances, rather than a whole level of guys going after you at once, they could've implemented the timed fights from NGB/S. I've been playing some NGS and this just feels empty without the scoring system or even a rank at the end of the level. I've played NG1 in all its forms about a jillion times because I like the scoring system. I'll play through this twice to unlock stuff, then probably stick to team missions.
Overall, it's a weird game. I like it better than NG2. The enemies take more time to kill and it's more defensive. but it's definitely still a step back from NGB/S (just not as large of one.) Some things they couldn't be expected to change...the level design is pretty atrocious for one thing. These missions kind of feel like they go on forever...they need to change that up in NG3.
