This "3rd season" per se, is a long shot from its previous entries. My main concerns is its presentation although the story does have its problem in comparison to the original too.
Story(6)
More or less covering the same arcs as in the first season almost verbatim but with slight changes here or there. Maybe a different character does a thing slightly differently for the fanbase to theorize obsessivley over as to what it means, but so far, only the ending to each arc changes where a different character does the killing. I've seen people say "its good for both newcomers and OG viewers" but at most I would think new viewers will think the story is fine while OG viewers will be bored by the same story and off put by the visual/audio presentation. The OG had amazing direction that allowed the story to be told through visuals, but gou always either comes off as too flat or too tacky with its direction. Somewhat of an uncanny valley area where they didn't commit enough to the intensity so as to just look awkward.
Art(3)
FLAT. Artwork is too bright and makes everything look really flat. Hinamizawa has never looked more boring and the character designs are a mixed bag of mostly really bad, to a few characters who dont look half bad in this style(lookin at you Chie). Keicchi's design drives me insane. He looks way too babyish and his jacket is shit, I miss assault jacket keicchi... I think the arts biggest problem is that its just too clean. Clean artwork in most cases means animators take next to no risks trying to do something interesting and just try to make a servicable product, which this comes off as, a product. say what you want about even the first season, there was a lot of visual stylistic flourishes in those 2 seasons that made them the cult classics they are today unlike gou which will definitely deminish the shows rep imo.
Sound(4)
Voices are wierdly obnoxious in this. even though its the same voice actors(JAP), they are way too shouty for a lot of it(mainly keicchi). Also the characters quirks through dialog like rikas nipahs or satokos laugh are abused to hell and back as if to say that is the entirety of their character Renas voice is probably the standout performance. she does a solid job and still feels like Rena.
The ost isnt noteworthy, like the OG i guess, but the OP and ED are letdowns being kind of generic "horror/thriller" anime songs but some may like it. The first 2 OPS and the 2nd ED of the OG series are all legendary imo.
Characters(3)
I feel like the characters personalities are all stripped down signicantly in gou. Keicchi seems like a purely reactive character who can't do anything unless someone tells him to, taking away the moments where people recognise him as K is a diservice to my boi. He really is the character that gets the worst treatment in all of gou. All the other characters have there most obvious quirks inflated and abused, take Shion for example. She has serious anger issues in this and is constantly flipping her shit at any moments notice, while in OG, she would get pissed but her personality would actually fluctuate like a normal human being rather that just going from blissfully happy to batshit angry the next moment. Most side characters are insanely flat and one-note.
Also fuck that cat mouth thing they keep doing with all the characters, it is hideous as fuck and only serves to distract at every moment.
Overall, Gou is kind of a pointless entry as far as a I see it, a merchandising cash cow even, shoving as many recognisable elements from the orginal with reckless abandon just to make us go "duh, I remember that, duh, I cant wait to get that Rika in a septic tank figurine". As far as Im concerned, Higurashi finished with the OVA's after the second season. If they wanted this to be a continuation, they should have maybe written one or two completely new scenarios for the characters seeing as they can be endless with Rikas whole situation.