YMMV / Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere

• Arc Fatigue: The games since Electrosphere have suffered from the Myth Stall variation. The game set up an interesting story involving barely-disguised war between MegaCorps and conspiracies surrounding them, the peacekeeping organization trying to keep them off each other, and another organization that turns out to be more than it seems. Later games had the implicit promise of exploring how Strangereal got to that point... a promise that was all but forgotten after just one game, when The Unsung War introduced the Belkan War and its aftermath and promptly had absolutely everything that has happened in the series since, even retroactively through remakes, have something to do with Belka's response to their loss.
• Contested Sequel: During release, the immense Cyberpunk aesthetic, corporate warfare, and futuristic setting splits the fanbase. Nevertheless, the fans eventually liked it enough that the developer put the game in the far future of the series canon, while so far every game from Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies onwards retain the military theme with only light sci-fi elements so far.
• Disappointing Last Level: The overseas release of Electrosphere suffers from this and Ending Fatigue (for what little storyline there is... try wrapping your head around that one). The last 7 or so levels are still the same quality and design as the rest of the game, but each level keeps ending with "To Be Continued", leading to the next level without a chance to switch planes or even save, and the player begins to wonder when it will finally end.
• Funny Moments: Even this game has some, as early as the first mission (the exchange below even made it into Infinity):
  Erich: Good thing Rena's flying a Flanker, eh?
  Fiona: Cut the chatter.
• Harsher in Hindsight: A building that looks like World Trade Center shows up in the Japanese release of Electrosphere and in Comberth Harbor (where you are leading the attack on Erusea's naval powers) of Ace Combat 04. Even worse, the one in Comberth Harbor was supposed to become engulfed in smoke as you destroyed the ships in the harbor. Two years later, however...
• Hilarious in Hindsight: So, this game features story branching depending on the player's actions during certain missions, as well as multiple endings, including a few downer ones, with an Omega Ending revealing what was really going on, the protagonist's past is unknown and they are revealed to be the Big Bad's creation. Looks like SEGA's been taking notes...
• Inferred Holocaust: A certain General Resource route mission's objective is to destroy Geofront, aka an entire underground city. Judging by amount of lights there, it definetily has a significant civilian population. And neither Nemo nor Keith make a big deal out of blowing it to hell...
• It Was His Sled: Thanks to the Internet and the availability of fan translations, it's fairly well known by fans of the series that in the story exclusive to the Japanese version, the Player Character is an AI created by Simon to destroy Dision and that the entire game takes place within a simulation.
• Underused Game Mechanic: The game has complex Story Branching based on the player's gameplay inputs, such as following a certain plane or shooting down a specific target. In the few later games featuring branching plots, such choices are almost always explicit menus which result in, at most, doing one or two missions in lieu of another one or two missions before the paths merge back together.
• The Woobie: Fiona, good god. She tried to convince Cynthia to not subject herself into being sublimated into the Electrosphere only for the latter to get shot down as soon you're progressing through the Neucom route much to the former's dismay. Though she survives in the said route's ending but you can't help but feel bad for her as she griefs over her sibling's death. And to rub more salt to the wound, Fionna dies in other routes no matter what you do.

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