Alright, just finished my first run on normal and cleared the first two eps on my new game+ easy replay.
Overall this was a really great game. Very impressed. The combat is GOOD. Real good. The weapons feel so great. Love using them and the enemies are fun to fight. Enough variety for the size of the game. The level pacing and challenge on a normal first run is great. At first it was a bit tough, but once you get past the initial learning curve it's pretty fair the whole rest of the game. Level 5 has some tougher spots but that makes it fun because you need to play at your best. I'd put it a first run on normal around the same difficulty as Vanquish on normal.
The rpg system was great. Buying weapons and customizing them was a lot of fun and your really noticed the effects in battle. The OE skill system is pretty cool too although it's a bit too much trial & error to get what you want. Still, having skills appear while you're fighting is cool and gives it kind of a kingdom hearts/arpg feel.
The music was great and the game length was perfect. Took me a bit over 8 hours for my first run.
On top of that this really is a game that shines on new game+ like DMC3/Bayonetta type games where you keep all your stuff. Building your character to have even cooler skills, more badass weapons, and funky costumes makes it either super fun while your speedrun and blow through all the enemies in 1 hit on easy or I assume a challenging fun experience on hard.
The graphics were also fantastic. One of the best looking portable games yet.
Control was....less than stellar, but playable. There were a few parts like in Ep2 with the stinkers where the lock on goes CRAZY and it's annoying until you figure out the layout of where the orbs are and where the enemies are and how to move around the area. Also sniping can be a bit of a pain with doing 180 turns and even aiming quickly. And sometimes when I'm changing weapons she accidently throws a grenade ^^; There's also a bit too much button mashing in liberation mode and PSP button mashing is never fun. On a real console this would control like a dream, but on PSP after some getting used to it, it's...acceptable.
The story ummm, I don't hate it as much as all you guys. Maybe because I never finished PE1 and never played PE2 and this is my favorite Parasite Eve game by far, but I'm just glad that by the end the story makes SOME SENSE (maybe not complete sense) but there's at least some satisfying closure. Is it a good story? No it's a bad C-movie sci-fi psuedo-intellectual tale, but hey it makes some sense and carries the non-stop action and gorgeous cutscene visuals so I'm really not going to complain a ton.
Another reason why I'm not that down on the writing is outside of the plot itself, the worldview for the game was AWESOME. It was a unique setting conveyed through the gameplay itself. This is the first game where when you die it's not just "oh well, there goes a life" it's "oh shit now I watch myself slowly get torn up while screaming from a third person perspective" and it really hits the note home of how depressing and bleak this world is. The way they took a standard mechanic (lives) and added humanity to it is something that seriously deserves some respect. The soldier dialogues at each save room are great and I love how they conveyed that these were just normal people scared shitless with no clue what's going on (like you) against enemies that exist only to kill you. It's a game that's definitely TOO dark and TOO bleak and I wouldn't necessarily want to see more like it, but as a single game experience there's really nothing like The 3rd Birthday, so even if the plot is terrible I'll give it a pass because the world they've created and the way they present it is fantastic.
So yeah, all in all outside of control issues because it's on the PSP when it should be on a console, this was a thumbs up good game. "Gun shooting rpg" is something I would like to see more of, because SE proves it can be done and done well.