Below is a repost of my Backloggd review for Sly 3. I was feeling lazy and didn't want to write two separate reviews for one game, do forgive!
Variety is the spice of life. Sly 3 is a big fan of that phrase. If I called Sly 1 a late PS1 game turned into an early PS2 title, this 3rd outing is a love letter to games like Spyro and Crash 3. Titles that, while good, leaned towards gimmicks that divide their fanbases. Sly 3 manages to happily avoid this! Mostly.
Gone are the clue bottles, which are sorely missed. In their place a more focused mission to mission structure that isn't without merit. By a certain point in my playthrough, I felt worn out with the cycle of large maps littered with clue bottles and having to swap back to the safehouse to tag in whoever's up for the next job. By some point I remedied the latter by saving my game and loading said save, which was helpful in cases like the oversized jungle that was episode 3.
"Smaller worlds, no clue bottles, this is starting to sound inferior to its predecessors! What's Sly 3 do to compensate?" I can hear ya asking. How lucky for you, there's some QoL improvements to go with your dish of variety.
Bentley and Murray can now pickpocket. Mic drop. Not sold enough? Murray can upper cut a smaller fiend into the air and shake the money outta them like Wario. Yeah, that's pure gold.
As for that variety itself, the story being about a grand heist, you obviously gotta form a team. From a returning villain to RC car driving sections, later on you get a pirate ship that's the most fun of these gimmicks! But for every good one, there's a boring button mash-y one.
So... why is it a half-star over its predecessor? Aside some gimmicks not hitting, the story has a few underdeveloped elements that take away slightly from the whole. Sly 3 might be my favorite, but Sly 2 outclasses it with how well told its story is.
I'm unsure if I'll be giving Thieves in Time a look. Or when. I have RPCS3, I can sure as hell play the game, but there'll be other commitments I'll be invested in for the time being. For a 100th review, I'm proud Sly 3 is it. This game was a great time, and I genuinely want to give the trilogy another go in the future.