LR is pretty much just 5U with prettier particle effects and classic stages, I think its more that it was already 3 years old when it came out so it was starting to get stale.
I thought LR was fine, and it was a smart move to move DOA5U to Next Gen in the form of DOA5LR. Yes the "jump" from DOA5 to 5U was larger, but honestly, LR's primary purpose was to move 5U to PS4 & XBone.