My first Ace Combat game, I was torn between starting with 3 or 4 but after playing this I'm glad I made the right decision and started with 3.

I knew this had some anime in it but I didn't expect such a good cyberpunk/transhumanist story with plot twists and different endings.

With that being said, I'm all for it. I think the graphics are really good for a PS1 game, the soundtrack slaps and I love the fact that you can have different endings and mission branches; at first I was really bad at playing it but then I got the hang of it and love the gameplay as well.

I played the fan-translated JP version of course.

Not my favorite way to review a game (by comparison) but here are the thoughts of an AC3 fanboy -which also happens to be the first AC game I played-:
- Plot: AC4's plot is very simple but I'd say it's solid. I like the fact that the enemy is not portrayed as a monster and are also looked as humans; with this said, it has nothing on AC3's transhumanist/cyberpunk plot.
- Mission structure: this is my biggest gripe with this game, I don't like the game throwing me in a mission to "destroy as much as you can in 20 minutes", it's a step-down from most of the objective-based missions in AC3 and are also not as varied. With that being said, I loved Stonehenge Offensive and the last 2 missions.
- Plane variety: I like realistic jets but I miss the over-the-top designs from Neucom in AC3, you had both choices in AC3.
- Replayability: because of AC3's 5 different endings the game has a lot of replayability. This on the other hand is more of a "you can keep replaying if you want better scores and unlock all the planes".

Maybe not as important for everyone but the cutscenes suffered a budget cut since they are not animated in this one as opposed to AC3.

It's still a really good game don't get me wrong but the mission structure and plot stop me from putting this in the same level as AC3.

The plot is interesting but the gameplay sucks

Edit: gave this another opportunity with more patience

NEW REVIEW

Got the TDE and all the magatamas.

Pros:
- Amazing atmosphere and character/demons design.
- Superb combat system (also worth noting it was the one that introduced the Press Turn System).
- Nice difficulty level, it can be challenging at times but this makes for a rewarding experience.
- Great boss battles.
- Dark story with multiple endings executed in a nice way. I like the fact that it's barebones so it doesn't get in the way of the combat and having fun but at the same time the few occasions the game focuses on the story it feels meaningful.
- Featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry series.

Cons:
- I don't have a problem with random encounters per se but when the encounter rate is as high as in Nocturne it makes for a frustrating experience and breaks the pace of the game. There was one time where I literally had 6 encounters going from the stairs outside Mantra HQ to the save point in Ikebukuro (maybe 15 steps?), really? Estoma doesn't work nearly as well as it should to counter this.
- There's some frustrating dungeons throughout the game (the last one for example) where you need to find the correct way to go by a lot of trial and error rather than by some clever gimmick. I wouldn't have a problem with this but a high encounter rate doesn't mix well with trial and error design.
- Music is good but it's compressed af.

The scale of the battles in this game is unprecedented for the Ace Combat series and I love it, it truly feels like a battlefield.

Huge missions with planes, tanks, ships in stupid quantities and with a lot of optional operations and very fun gameplay due to the physics and controls being tuned so well, the mission variety is not too shabby either.

The only thing I can criticize in the gameplay aspect is how most of the missions are not very memorable and how overpowered "Allied Attack" is but I played the game on Normal so maybe the latter isn't true for higher difficulties.

Having said this, it's a shame the game didn't have very iconic and memorable missions since this had the potential to be the best Ace Combat game (gameplay-wise) but it's still really good.

I'm amazed at the beautiful graphics and relatively stable framerate they managed to pull with all the units on screen.

The soundtrack is pretty good as always in the franchise but it doesn't stand out.

It has been said a dozen times before but I must say it again, the story is very corny and bad, easily the worst in all of the AC games I have played. The characters are not very likeable either, they are just "there".

Overall, I fully recommend this game for fans of the series, especially if you feel like focusing on the gameplay and not so much on the story.