I finished the game last night on Hard difficulty - and I'd have to say that overall, I enjoyed myself. There is some ridiculous bullshit in there, and it's certainly a gigantic misstep compared to NG1/NGB/NG2 - but I found myself enjoying the core combat system of SoB, UT's, OT's, Izuna's and some of the crazier combo's.
Last level was actually pretty good I felt. The final boss was a bit of a let down but ultimately a bit of relief given how frustrating the game was against certain bosses earlier in the game - I think a difficult boss may have left the game on a sour note for me. I suppose given just how much Hayashi & Co. fucked up - I think they did a decent job with the story and making Hayabusa a fucking bad ass. It was definitely cheesy and pointless, but I found myself enjoying handing out so much awesome with Ryu, even in cutscenes (mid air Jet transfer was amazing). Regent of the Mask was a bad ass - I really hope we get him as a playable (bonus) character if there is another Ninja Gaiden, or some more DLC... I'd even love to see him make an appearance in DoA5 if they could create a decent non-sword move set (He had some decent kicks and grabs, they could do it). Last cutscene/QTE on Regent of the Mask was fucking brutal.
There were a few sections on the last level that choked my Xbox to a ridiculous point. Particularly the final boss - the game basically hit single digit framerate, and I could do nothing but basic strikes as none of my button inputs were consistent enough to pull off a decent combo.
Enemy variety was a bit hit or miss. I enjoyed fighting most of the enemies and ended up having a good strategy for nearly all of them by the end of the game - something that gave me that 'Ninja Gaiden' feeling that is missing early in the game. White Alchemists are fucking crazy difficult. I think I finally had a consistently safe, quick strategy for them on the last batch on the last stage - too little, too late I guess. They gave me a hard time - particularly the suicide grab.
I tried the multiplayer today - I guess my expectations were so low that I walked away at least a little surprised. I have zero intention of returning to it - Australian Internet is doing it no favours - but I did fairly well, won a few rounds, reached level 14 or so and then called it a day. The Izuna Drop is painfully inconsistent in clan battle. I will definitely get a friend to co-op the Ninja Trials with me though and I look forward to the DLC.
I think the biggest issue for nearly any fan of the genre - is that the game is simply not as good, on any level, as Bayonetta. I guess if they placed Ryu + the crazy blood/gore into the Bayonetta combat system + enemies, I'd have a perfect game.
My suggestion to anyone that hates it and gives up half way through - stick it out. If you manage to get through Day 3 you have pretty much experienced the worst the game has to offer. Nearly everything afterwards (besides some framerate/input issues) was a much better experience in my opinion. By the end, as I finished up killing 2900+ enemies I think some elements of 'good' Ninja Gaiden had shone through and over-shadowed the tiresome QTE's and neutered Ninpo system.
I guess what this long post was trying to say was - definitely a shittier experience than previous entries, but I'll be down for a NG4.