They were divided on its gameplay mechanics: some disliked its controls—specifically the inability to move and shoot simultaneously—while others compared it favorably to the golden age of arcade games.

Late in the game, Vanessa discovers a clone of herself in a CAMS facility but is forced to abandon her when the building's self-destruct sequence is initiated.

The team focused on the game's audiovisuals, action and speed, and they tried to balance the "tension experienced on the battlefield and the exhilaration of taking out the enemies".

However, other staff members disliked the name: some claimed that it failed to describe the game, while others thought that White Jaguar was a better title.

[11][16][17] P.N.03's gameplay was initially similar to that of Devil May Cry: Vanessa attacked with two pistols and performed acrobatic moves like Dante.

[7] Feeling that it resembled Devil May Cry too closely, Mikami altered the game to reward players for performing defensive moves.

[18] Mikami wanted Vanessa to use guns, but the developers couldn't complete the animated graphics for weapons in time for release.

To that end, the staff applied a minimalist approach to the visuals, used "fine drawn lines", and emphasized "visibility and creativity" in the game world.

[14] The team crafted the gameplay to avoid "button mashing"; instead, players were meant to observe enemy attack patterns and think before acting.

[36][37] Several critics predicted P.N.03's cult status and lack of mainstream accessibility at its release and afterwards, and it has been listed in several articles as being an "overlooked" or "hidden" gem[52][53][54] that "[deserves] another chance".

[61] Dave Halverson of Play (US magazine) gave P.N.03 an A− and praised it as "old-school...fun and length through mastery and addiction" and "a work of art from beginning to end".

Keza MacDonald from Eurogamer called P.N.03 a "balletic and difficult, and quite old-fashioned...3D transposition of the traditional 2D vertical shooter", citing its "clean, minimalist style, the purposefully restrictive control and the rhythm and flow of the shooting".

The writer favorably compared its gameplay to that of Space Invaders, in that the game "rewards skill above all else and mastery brings huge satisfaction".

[64] In a 2009 retrospective review, the Edge magazine staff echoed its previous praise of P.N.03 but acknowledged the game's awkward control mechanics.

The staff commented that Vanessa's potentially fluid movement is difficult to execute, but that the challenge of mastering the control scheme is part of the game's charm.

[51] GamePro's Mike Weigand called the game "a long, intense, thumb-busting shooter that tests trigger fingers and patience levels."

He found the environments and enemies repetitive, but he cited "strong aesthetics" and "a slick reward system" as redemptive features.

He felt that it lacked flow, thanks in large part to Vanessa's "clumsily staccato" movements and inability to move and shoot simultaneously.

[49] Game Informer's Andrew Reiner wrote that P.N.03's setting, animations and protagonist give it an "undeniable allure" of freshness and originality.

"[47] Matt Casamassina of IGN wrote that players will "want to like" the game, but that its "design flaws and sloppy execution" are impossible to overlook.

He found it to be shallow and repetitive, and he wrote that its fast pace and "unresponsive control setup" combine to place the game "at war with itself."

He later added "if at times its appeal can be hard to pin down, that doesn't mean it should be so easily forgotten", mentioning the satisfaction of beating the bosses in the game.