I have a lot I could say about this game because I feel like a lot of it can be summarized as "the potential to be more."

I think it's really easy to see where they want to change things and improve but in the end it all kinda felt unfinished. I did give it 4 stars because I still felt it was an enjoyable time, but it still felt kind of an empty feeling compared to the first two games.

The use of side scrolling felt like nothing other than a time filler because it was never truly utilized in chase scenes or anything of the like to make it feel necessary, and the atmosphere of the game feels significantly less scary while having it. The spirit designs felt like a step down compared to the other two games as well, including the surrounding stories of them which felt weaker as well. The game also felt like there were almost no stakes in terms of right or wrong actions and answers, the rng & retry system for suspensive acts messed with tension during confrontations. The answers were spoon-fed to you during the investigations rather than relying on the player to take clues and piece the entire story together. While I was glad to not play the game with a guide for once, it removed a lot of the feelings of accomplishment that the first two gave from slowly uncovering elaborate ghost grudges and theorizing what happened.

Once again, I still found the game itself enjoyable (unnecessary fan-service aside) but the changes they made did no real favors for the series.

I did enjoy the presence of the past characters (even if it caused the new characters to suffer by not getting developed), and I enjoyed Yashiki's presence in the story. I think Yashiki was probably the best part of the story but I think a bulk of this entry was establishing him further as his own character more solidly.

Don't know if this one is on my replay list but it did make me want to replay the first two that's for sure.