Overall, I'm very impressed. The upgrade system, costumes, characters, etc. adds a lot of customizability, replayabilty, complexity and depth to game. Ayane is great to play (allegedly Kasumi was going to be playable in this demo but I haven't found out how to use her, yet). The gore feels great and in general the combat just feels better. The revamped ninpo/UT/SoB/OT system contributes an insane amount to it, as well. I'm very excited to use multiple characters in different playthroughs.
That said, unlike most of you, I also have several complaints. I don't consdier these nit-picky, either. They are serious problems that hamper the game (almost to the point I consider it unplayable).
1) The Auto-Target: This is by-and-far the biggest complaint I have. It's always been problematic at times throughout the series, but it's hit an all-time low, here (yes, even worse than vanilla NG3). For example, if I de-limb an enemy, then quickly point to him and press Heavy to finish him off and get the i-frames, 9 times out of 10 Ryu ignores me completely and attacks some random enemy not even within hit-range. This makes efficiency next to impossible, and OTs very unreliable. This problem persists in other forms. They frequently spawn rocket launchers (an understatement, actually; there's more RL enemies than people in China) on ledges you can't reach. The logical thing to do would be to snipe them out first (since they are unreachable by foot). But no. Ryu always auto-targets the enemies on the floor behind him off in the distance, regardless where you point (who block all arrows, anyway). That means you have to save them for last, which is stupid beyond belief (maybe you like dodging rockets 24/7 in sword fights, but I don't). However, where this really reaches its pinnacle is during alchemists fights. You want to take one out fast, but even if you isolate him, try to point toward him and attack, Ryu spins around and attacks INTO FUCKING NOWHERE. EVERY GODDAMN TIME! It's so retardedly stupid. There are no other enemies for 50 goddamn yards. Also, he likes to auto-target shielded enemies when you point away and do a light attack just so you bounce off and are left open to attack. I could rant for hours, but I shouldn't have to. You logically get the idea already.
2) Ryu fights like a retard: Seriously, whatever they did to his Katana moveset for NG3 was awful. I knew that, but there were other bigger issues to gripe about in vanilla NG3 so I didn't make too big of a stink. But now, 90% of his moves are totally useless. After the first hit connects, the second in nearly every string rarely ever will because enemies can dodge out of stun regarding everything. I find myself free-canceling after every attack like it's DOA. This applies even when enemies are downed. That's right. When they are on the floor eating the friggin' dirt (the optimal time you'd think to send out your best combo), you go for a launch, but after the first hit connects, they dodge the second (the launch). Seriously, it's ridiculous. Not to mention
3) Stupid enemies: Rocket-launcher guys on distant balconies 24/7 aside, this comes in at the alchemists. They block fucking everything and you can't guard break them because it recharges instantly (compounded with the dumbass targeting mentioned earlier). This limits you to heavy attacks, which their AI is set-up in just a way to dodge these attacks and retaliate simultaneously (note that even if you get them downed, you still can't punish them due to Issue 2, which I mentioned earlier). "No problem, I'll just use the SoB trick to interrupt them strategically!" Guess again. They have so much Joe they get special immunity to that. Note: they also spam those cube attacks which both look stupid and obscure the screen to you can never really tell what's going on. Flying swallow is next-to-useless as it just breaks their shield (which regenerates instantly). Haven't found a way to use guillotine throws, Izuna drops or head pounces effectively on them yet, so that pretty much leaves Forward Heavy, heavy, heavy spams or UT charges. I guess if that sounds fun to you, enjoy.
Also, the alchemists with swords are 10x easier than the ones without. 'Cause you know, fuck logic.
