Something a lot of people don't know is that NG3 is supposed to take place between NG1 and 2. This was made clear in the jap release, but not elsewhere. Didn't help that Nintendo Power and others didn't make this clear either, so 3 was thought of as the chronological end of the classic trilogy. It led to confusion, at least for me, because the Dragon Sword disintegrates into energy and revives Irene at the end of 2, so in 3 he couldn't be wielding the Dragon Sword anymore.