A game that's a bit hard to get into, either because of technical issues (though it works better for me than WotS 4) or from gameplay being poorly explained. The fact the tutorial is an area that isn't told only exasperates that issue. I love this game, with all its quirky humour, jank, imperfect and outdated systems. One thing this game nails, is it's ability to feel like an alive world with how many things could occur. You could really treat this game like a visual novel with travelling, scheduling and samurai duels once you get your bearings in.

I over-explain a bunch here... because the game only explains the bare minimum (just the fact they exist).

The game's story really is told though 'inklings' on the map, with you only able to do some based on your actions, and only allowing 12 before the climactic event. If you've played any 'social sim' game before, like Persona or more closely... Stardew Valley, then it's like that. Through all of these events there are at least 21 named endings, though a majority are small variations of others, making it really 8 endings with multiple variations of most of them. The game doesn't have a set number of days (unlike the other games in the series), allowing you continue forever before you get an ending.
Over my playtime, I did eventually enjoy the characters. On a first playthrough, you feel randomly dropped into these people's lives and it feels hard to connect with them, but as you play more you see what kind of person they are and who they will be. I didn't feel a personal connection to anyone, but I did enjoy their presence and that's perfectly fine.

Combat feels very simple, but has some surprising nuance to it which gets lost as soon as you discover how to juggle enemies permanently. Many weapons have capabilities to launch enemies, and if it's fast enough you have time to stand next to your target, block their get-up/ wait for them to begin standing allowing you to repeat it. Fighting occurs as a one-on-one, regardless of how many enemies are around.
An interesting mechanic unique to this series. While attacking (with light attacks) you may hold forward to 'push' an enemy's blade when they block. Conversely, you may 'pull' on the defensive (by holding away) to knock attacks to be unstable. The catch: attempting to pull only works when the enemy is pushing (red icon above head), otherwise you lose balance, enemies will do this against you when there icon is blue. The result of that is the constant need to be attacking, as defence is harder to do and generally less rewarding except on regular enemies.
A new mechanic added in this instalment, allowing a perfectly timed guard to start a QTE to instantly kill the attacker. Doesn't work on Unique enemies (have a purple border on their health bar). Successfully doing it allows you to reattempt it on a nearby enemy, but with a random button as the QTE. This mechanic trivialises enemy encounters entirely.

You keep items, money, weapons, cosmetics and whichever partner you have living with you. Between playthroughs, you gain "samurai points" based on your actions, unlocking some gameplay additions, cosmetics and extras. You need a lot of money to do things, unless you decide to rob shopkeepers.
Partners are a mechanic unique to WotS 3 (to other games in the series). Aside from annoying you, they have benefits and or downsides. Their most useful function is to generate compound interest on your savings.
Weapons have randomised stats (within a range). Upgrading weapons is semi RNG, and doing specific thing allows you to add titles which give +100 stats to them. They level up as you use them, slightly improving stats and unlocking more moves for use from their stance type (it is set for each weapon), certain items skip this skill grind. This system generates quite a lot of variety, at the cost of being grindy and making weapon swapping a pain.
A very fun extra feature, to make your character more personal. Either by attaching accessories, or using a model of an NPC you like. There very much is some jank here: smaller characters have smaller hitboxes, letting you dodge attacks from big characters occasionally; female characters (with 2 exceptions) cannot run while sheathed, but unsheathing in unarmed stance gets around that without causing most NPCs to get aggressive. I did in fact do this for most of my playtime and you get used to doing it if you decide to use a female character.

For a PS3 game, it's honestly quite good (slightly better than old gen monster hunter in terms of graphical fidelity). The only issue one could really have is the number of reused assets in the game, making it look cheaper.
Music is fitting for the game, but cuts out in combat frequently (due to fading out the instant no enemies are around). There aren't that many tracks, but they are all used well, but there is some multi-layering issues: battle at Castle Minori after Nobunaga event plays both the area theme and the battle theme, though it would be good if it was made into a full version.
Menu sound effects regularly play from a kilometer away for some reason.

A game that's a bit hard to get into, either because of technical issues (though it works better for me than WotS 4) or from gameplay being poorly explained. The fact the tutorial is an area that isn't told only exasperates that issue. I love this game, with all its quirky humour, jank, imperfect and outdated systems. One thing this game nails, is it's ability to feel like an alive world with how many things could occur. You could really treat this game like a visual novel with travelling, scheduling and samurai duels once you get your bearings in. I over-explain a bunch here... because the game only explains the bare minimum (just the fact they exist). [h2]Storytelling[/h2] The game's story really is told though 'inklings' on the map, with you only able to do some based on your actions, and only allowing 12 before the climactic event. If you've played any '[i]social sim[/i]' game before, like Persona or more closely... Stardew Valley, then it's like that. Through all of these events there are [i]at least[/i] 21 named endings, though a majority are small variations of others, making it really 8 endings with multiple variations of most of them. The game doesn't have a set number of days (unlike the other games in the series), allowing you continue forever before you get an ending. Over my playtime, I did eventually enjoy the characters. On a first playthrough, you feel randomly dropped into these people's lives and it feels hard to connect with them, but as you play more you see what kind of person they are and who they will be. I didn't feel a personal connection to anyone, but I did enjoy their presence and that's perfectly fine. [h2]Combat[/h2] Combat feels very simple, but has some surprising nuance to it which gets lost as soon as you discover how to juggle enemies permanently. Many weapons have capabilities to launch enemies, and if it's fast enough you have time to stand next to your target, block their get-up/ wait for them to begin standing allowing you to repeat it. Fighting occurs as a one-on-one, regardless of how many enemies are around. [h3]Push and Pull[/h3] An interesting mechanic unique to this series. While attacking (with light attacks) you may hold forward to 'push' an enemy's blade when they block. Conversely, you may 'pull' on the defensive (by holding away) to knock attacks to be unstable. The catch: attempting to pull only works when the enemy is pushing (red icon above head), otherwise you lose balance, enemies will do this against you when there icon is blue. The result of that is the constant need to be attacking, as defence is harder to do and generally less rewarding except on regular enemies. [h3]Instant Kill & Chain Kill[/h3] A new mechanic added in this instalment, allowing a perfectly timed guard to start a QTE to instantly kill the attacker. Doesn't work on Unique enemies (have a purple border on their health bar). Successfully doing it allows you to reattempt it on a nearby enemy, but with a random button as the QTE. This mechanic trivialises enemy encounters entirely. [h2]Progression[/h2] You keep items, money, weapons, cosmetics and whichever partner you have living with you. Between playthroughs, you gain "samurai points" based on your actions, unlocking some gameplay additions, cosmetics and extras. You need a lot of money to do things, unless you decide to rob shopkeepers. [h3]Partners[/h3] Partners are a mechanic unique to WotS 3 (to other games in the series). Aside from annoying you, they have benefits and or downsides. Their most useful function is to generate compound interest on your savings. [h3]Weapons[/h3] Weapons have randomised stats (within a range). Upgrading weapons is semi RNG, and doing specific thing allows you to add titles which give +100 stats to them. They level up as you use them, slightly improving stats and unlocking more moves for use from their stance type (it is set for each weapon), certain items skip this skill grind. This system generates quite a lot of variety, at the cost of being grindy and making weapon swapping a pain. [h3]Cosmetics[/h3] A very fun extra feature, to make your character more personal. Either by attaching accessories, or using a model of an NPC you like. There very much is some jank here: smaller characters have smaller hitboxes, letting you dodge attacks from big characters occasionally; female characters (with 2 exceptions) cannot run while sheathed, but unsheathing in unarmed stance gets around that without causing [i]most[/i] NPCs to get aggressive. I did in fact do this for most of my playtime and you get used to doing it if you decide to use a female character. [h2]Art[/h2] For a PS3 game, it's honestly quite good ([i]slightly[/i] better than old gen monster hunter in terms of graphical fidelity). The only issue one could really have is the number of reused assets in the game, making it look cheaper. Music is fitting for the game, but cuts out in combat frequently (due to fading out the instant no enemies are around). There aren't that many tracks, but they are all used well, but there is some multi-layering issues: [spoiler]battle at Castle Minori after Nobunaga event plays both the area theme and the battle theme, though it would be good if it was made into a full version.[/spoiler] Menu sound effects regularly play from a kilometer away for some reason.