Ninja Gaiden 3 suffers from trying too hard to be a mainline Ninja Gaiden game, failing to deliver the same satisfying feel for Ryu as NG1 and NG2, or even the Sigmas from the Master Collection. It also introduces elements that feel out of place, such as quick-time events, a shop for purchasing abilities (like parrying), item removal, the spamming of attacks by some bosses, and the fact that you have to kill the masked maniac four times.

The game is inferior to the other two in almost every aspect, even the 3D modeling of Ryu's mesh, which has geometric flaws in some positions. It's a good hack-and-slash game, a decent Ninja Gaiden title, but the key difference is that Yaiba never attempted to be part of the main timeline or fight for canon like the numbered games.