Current Events > ITT: I play Ace Combat 7 (spoilers)

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Shotgunnova
06/22/19 8:18:28 AM
#1:


Feels like it's been forever since I played one of my favorite genres: airplane games. A few months late to the party, but I'm ready to dance with the angels and my old friends, QAAMs. Hopefully this will be more like the golden AC era (3-5) and not a bloated abomination (6).
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Alucard188
06/22/19 8:27:08 AM
#2:


It's a good game. I really liked it, and I need to get back to it. I got the pre-order bonus that came with it after a lot of difficulty from Amazon, the stupid asshats.
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Error1355
06/22/19 8:53:32 AM
#3:


I love me some Ace Combat.

This game is much more AC04-Zero era and not AC6. I love that it's pretty much a direct sequel to AC5.
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Shotgunnova
06/22/19 10:47:52 AM
#4:


Good to know it's more in line with the classics. Shame this didn't come with the AC5 preorder, but at least I have it on PS2. Heard that plenty of peeps had to pester Amazon over the codes. It would be nice to replay for Steve Blum, though. He nailed that captain role, haha.

Right now, up to Mission 3. Had a bit of trouble on the second mission -- mostly because I didn't know Triangle cycled the targets -- so I broke out sick machine gun action a lot of the time. Kinda fun, honestly. I do regret not having VR for some of these missions, though -- the game really brings the goods in that area. Nothing fancy, no gimmicks...just nice, natural splendor.

q7voWeU
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PS: With so many people getting cool callsigns in the series, Clown is a feelbad, haha.
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Take me down from the ridge where the summer ends
And watch the city spread out just like a jet's flame
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Error1355
06/22/19 10:59:10 AM
#5:


Shotgunnova posted...
Heard that plenty of peeps had to pester Amazon over the codes.

Me and Alucard had a hell of a time.

Shotgunnova posted...
I do regret not having VR for some of these missions

The VR missions are awesome and felt awesome, but with there just being three 10ish minute long VR missions it's not worth buying a PSVR just for it. It's a great bonus if you own one already though.
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Shotgunnova
06/22/19 11:01:17 AM
#6:


The season pass isn't going to have VR stuff? Sounds like a missed opportunity.
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Take me down from the ridge where the summer ends
And watch the city spread out just like a jet's flame
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Error1355
06/22/19 11:35:15 AM
#7:


I don't believe so.
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Hexenherz
06/22/19 11:44:58 AM
#8:


How close to the older games is it? Last AC game I played was I think Shattered Horizons or whatever and it felt like the whole thing was just - get close to plane, enter dogfight mode, shoot at the jet engine of enemy plane, wash, rinse, repeat.
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Error1355
06/22/19 11:49:27 AM
#9:


Hexenherz posted...
How close to the older games is it?

It plays like a PS4 version of the PS2 games.
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rookieplayer03
06/22/19 11:50:07 AM
#10:


Hexenherz posted...
How close to the older games is it? Last AC game I played was I think Shattered Horizons or whatever and it felt like the whole thing was just - get close to plane, enter dogfight mode, shoot at the jet engine of enemy plane, wash, rinse, repeat.


Assault Horizon was a one off of the normal gameplay. 7 plays like the other Ace games.
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Shotgunnova
06/22/19 12:18:52 PM
#11:


If you like AC4, this one (so far) has been pretty similar. Weapons and planes are unlocked on some type of "skill tree" system, though, whereas I think AC4 just gave you planes/equipment automatically for mission victories.

Anyway, just did Mission 3: RIP Brownie. Taking on that huge drone jet reminds me of the White Bird in one of those AC5 missions.
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Take me down from the ridge where the summer ends
And watch the city spread out just like a jet's flame
... Copied to Clipboard!
Hanky_Bannister
06/22/19 12:20:39 PM
#12:


Good game

Enjoy
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Shotgunnova
06/22/19 12:41:30 PM
#13:


Just beat Mission 4. They made me blow up the president's plane in a friendly fire incident, lol. There goes my illustrious career.
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Take me down from the ridge where the summer ends
And watch the city spread out just like a jet's flame
... Copied to Clipboard!
Shotgunnova
06/22/19 1:17:05 PM
#14:


Welp, just beat Mission 5. They should've called it "Con Air" instead, because sending convicts up to fight off planes is just a hilarious concept. I could do without this bespectacled weirdo with Jay Leno hair creepily watching girls from afar, though. Guess he's meant to be a biographer or fixed POV for the story, like previous games have done.

Mission 6 looks like it'll have 113 ground targets...guess I better bring some bombs, 'cause I ain't got that many missiles.
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Take me down from the ridge where the summer ends
And watch the city spread out just like a jet's flame
... Copied to Clipboard!
Alucard188
06/22/19 1:28:07 PM
#15:


Error1355 posted...
Me and Alucard had a hell of a time.


Error knows all about the fucking headache I went through. He's such a bro that he gave me his spare code in case Amazon was going to fuck me hard over it. They finally relented and gave me my code, to which I gave back to Error. It was enough that it made me cancel all my existing pre-orders with Amazon.
---
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Shotgunnova
06/22/19 4:34:25 PM
#16:


With how many game release broken or unfinished nowadays, cancelling preorder ain't a bad idea.

Anywho, up to the 8th mission now. Mission 6 was in the "kill X targets for Y score in Z time" vein, and rather reminicent of Whiskey Corridor in AC4. That one had lower height elevation, though, IIRC. Honestly, the worst thing about this mission wasn't the difficulty, but the lack of checkpoints. Why offer a "continue from checkpoint" option if there aren't any checkpoints? Even 10+ minutes in, after a mission update, it didn't apply. Stupid.

Mission 7, however, was an enjoyable type of problematic, with terrible visibility, air currents messing up your maneuvers, lightning strikes wreaking havoc on the hud, looming spires ready to catch you in a warm embrace, etc. The dogfight you do with that old-timey ace of theirs was some definite hax, though. It has a pretty good OST, though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdMHGrFuezM" data-time="


Mission 8 looks to be a similar version to AC4's Operation Bunker Shot, but we'll see how it goes.
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Take me down from the ridge where the summer ends
And watch the city spread out just like a jet's flame
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Shotgunnova
06/22/19 9:31:59 PM
#17:


Mission 8: this one was rather fun since you did a quick coastal bliztkreig on all those fuel depots. At first I was a little leery about the 17K point quota, but the refineries and such usually set off chain reactions, so it wasn't that hard. Having to blow up those fleeing fuel trucks in a huge sandstorm wasn't very enjoyable, though, what with radar dipping in and out.

Mission 9: this one is reminiscent of the old Stonehenge strikes, just in mountains instead of canyons. I tend to like these missions, even if it was a little bland besides.

Mission 10: the only two convicts (!?) left have to do an escort mission with General Douchebag to the DMZ or something. I quickly learned you have to run ahead and kill all the SAMs or they'll just do chip damage constantly and blow up the escort. The weather effects were nice in the thunderstorm mission, but they're getting a little tiresome by this point, haha. Still, it's worth failing a few times, just to hear AWACS throw shade at the recently deceased general.

Next mission seems to be another coastal strike. Hopefully it's as good as the ol' Siege of Farbanti.
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Take me down from the ridge where the summer ends
And watch the city spread out just like a jet's flame
... Copied to Clipboard!
Shotgunnova
06/23/19 8:38:59 AM
#18:


Mission 11: this one was enjoyably troublesome. You have an estuary, offshore oil rig and an armada and have to choose which ones to tackle. What the game doesn't tell you is the first two targets have structural weaknesses and one good missile drops entire sections of their platforms. It's not the hardest thing in the world to do -- and get 25000 points in the process -- but there aren't any checkpoints, even if you RTB, so patience is key.

Next to Mission 7, this is my favorite so far. Always enjoyed missions where you have to use skillful flying to get through, like the ones where you need to hide in canyons, fly in tunnels, etc. It's not required here, but if you can get a straight shot, you can fly right between the platforms' framework, which is always a rush.
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Take me down from the ridge where the summer ends
And watch the city spread out just like a jet's flame
... Copied to Clipboard!
Shotgunnova
06/23/19 10:07:43 AM
#19:


Mission 12: protect Stonehenge, then shoot down an Arsenal Bird. This was alright, but the meteor cannon being in such sorry shape robbed a lot of the possible fun (all aircraft needing to dodge) it could've had. Failed plenty of times before I shadowed all the bombing formations and finally managed it. Too bad they didn't do a throwback like hiding in cannons to avoid the explosions.

EDIT: And are they dropping hints that the goody-goody princess might not be all she seems? Hmm...
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Take me down from the ridge where the summer ends
And watch the city spread out just like a jet's flame
... Copied to Clipboard!
Shotgunnova
06/23/19 10:59:22 AM
#20:


Mission 13: use a laser designator to mark 5 silos for Osean bunker buster, then defeat loose ICBMs. This is the worst mission in the game so far: boring terrain, cloud cover, useless allies, the last three missiles can only realistically be approached from below, and you can get disoriented near the exosphere (which wastes precious time). The only saving grace is the light air resistance and a checkpoint before the ICBM part.

Whoever was in charge of collecting intel for that mission should be shot out of Stonehenge, 'cause that was pure incompetence.
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Take me down from the ridge where the summer ends
And watch the city spread out just like a jet's flame
... Copied to Clipboard!
Shotgunnova
06/23/19 11:33:54 AM
#21:


Mission 14: fly through a canyon during nighttime to launch a surprise attack on an airport. This was quite enjoyable, especially since I brought some 6AAMs to take out multiple air targets at once. I think one of the starter plane had a similar weapon, but I never bothered using it became obsolete quickly.

Also, that creepy scientist dude who keeps making that enemy fighter's suits, I think he's voiced by the same dude as Garrus from Mass Effect. If not, he does one hell of an impression, haha.
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Take me down from the ridge where the summer ends
And watch the city spread out just like a jet's flame
... Copied to Clipboard!
Shotgunnova
06/23/19 3:00:15 PM
#22:


Mission 15 is just a huge slog over Farbanti -- not the worst I've played so far, but definitely one of the blander missions. Setting it in the twilight hours paints the scenery a kind of "blah" color, so there's little interesting about this one, other than the ships snaking through the sunket district. At the end, I thought someone dropped a nuke, but it just turned out to be satellites being destroyed. =|
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Take me down from the ridge where the summer ends
And watch the city spread out just like a jet's flame
... Copied to Clipboard!
Shotgunnova
06/23/19 5:27:54 PM
#23:


Mission 17 was another IFF question mark, just with a higher focus on air combat. Kinda enjoyable with a useful checkpoint system, but it didn't really stand in the pantheon of great missions. Nice to know Tabloid's still kicking, though...thought he got downed awhile back. I think I have enough funds to buy that 800K+ plane.

I know AC games like to have epic finishers, so it ain't looking too good for that orbital elevator. Maybe it'll work out, haha.

EDIT: I'm $370 short on this plane, lmao.
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Take me down from the ridge where the summer ends
And watch the city spread out just like a jet's flame
... Copied to Clipboard!
Kickflip
06/23/19 5:41:22 PM
#24:


Shotgunnova posted...
the golden AC era (3-5)


Eww, 3 is really had.

But anyway, 7 is a pretty good return to form yeah. I just wish it had a more variety of fictional planes. There's just one in the base game, and all three of the DLC planes are just variants of the same plane (Falken)
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Shotgunnova
06/23/19 6:27:32 PM
#25:


Welp, shot down Mister (ha)X. Old men should yell at clouds, not fly through 'em. RIP in pieces.

Kickflip posted...
Eww, 3 is really had.
AC3 is my fave, actually. The version we got is neutered compared to the JP one, sure, but it's still pretty damn fun.
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Take me down from the ridge where the summer ends
And watch the city spread out just like a jet's flame
... Copied to Clipboard!
Kickflip
06/23/19 6:39:24 PM
#26:


Shotgunnova posted...
AC3 is my fave, actually. The version we got is neutered compared to the JP one, sure, but it's still pretty damn fun.


I've played the Japanese version, and it's not the (lack of) story in the western release that holds it back imo. Not trying to be confrontational, but I'm just genuinely curious: what do you like about 3 in particular? I feel like from a gameplay perspective, 3 is hands down the worst with its very sluggish flight model and lacking mission variety (you get a mission where you literally fly in space, which is super cool, but for some reason most every other mission is bland as can be).

I understand it's a very interesting game conceptually, though. But at the same it also doesn't feel much like Ace Combat. If you've played the Japanese version, it comes off more like a Kojima made game than a Project Aces one. Which I guess has its own appeal, but again, it just feels very non-Ace Combat.

Idk. That's what is great about opinions.

Usually the golden Age of AC is considered 4, 5, and Zero. Usually referred to as "the holy trinity". Personally, my fav three are 2, Zero, and X, with X probably being the best in the series imo.
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Shotgunnova
06/23/19 6:59:17 PM
#27:


AC3 is one of the only, if not the only, AC game where I like most of the missions -- an amazing feat, considering how many there are. Its predecessors (especially Air Combat) had parts that felt rather rudimentary; PS2-era games can feel a little overlong or bloated in terms of mission design. It's true that the PS2 game have a great balance, though, so I'm not knocking 'em. AC5 is especially good.

Maybe part of the reason I'm drawn to it is the "non-AC-ness," as you mentioned, because it has a different feel from its brethren. That futuristic soundtrack helps, too -- it's almost a mix between Front Mission 3 and Ghost in the Shell.

Kickflip posted...
Personally, my fav three are 2, Zero, and X, with X probably being the best in the series imo.
Never did play Zero and X. Interesting to hear a PSP game could be the best, though.
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Take me down from the ridge where the summer ends
And watch the city spread out just like a jet's flame
... Copied to Clipboard!
Kickflip
06/23/19 7:13:36 PM
#28:


Yeah, the soundtrack is pretty good, and it's all very cohesive band has the most unique atmosphere in the series, albeit at the cost of alienating itself a bit.

Shotgunnova posted...
Interesting to hear a PSP game could be the best, though.


X does just about everything right. Mission variety with branching paths (good replayability). Good aircraft roster including a bunch of non-super plane original aircraft (Cariburn, Fregata, Forneus and more debuted in X). Parts and plane tuning was introduced. Good soundtrack. Good standalone story that broke away from the tired Osea/Erusea/Belka/Yuktobania conflicts; deals with southern Strangereal countries Aurelia and Leseath. It pretty much hits all the notes you'd want in an AC game.

The follow up, Joint Assault is a pretty big step back unfortunately.
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Shotgunnova
06/23/19 7:38:55 PM
#29:


Welp, just cooked the last Arsenal Turkey. Just look at this sorry bastard:

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As for ACX, I always wanted to get a PSP. Gonna have to put that on my radar.
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Take me down from the ridge where the summer ends
And watch the city spread out just like a jet's flame
... Copied to Clipboard!
Shotgunnova
06/23/19 8:32:12 PM
#30:


Beat the final mission! Damn drone warfare is getting too advanced. Getting to fly through the tunnels AC3-style was great, though. Even I didn't expect to shoot out the space elevator, nor hear that Kei Nagase (AC5) was on a spaceship, lol. I guess the princess survived her little parachuting stunt (I thought she got blown up).

Overall, a pretty decent AC game, maybe an 8/10. The bad weather gimmick could've been toned down, and missiles could've fired a bit faster by default, but still a pretty fun romp. I'd rather shoot down human-controlled planes, though, just because you get a more personal element and the occasional conversation. "OMG faceless mass-produced drones" doesn't pack the same punch.
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Take me down from the ridge where the summer ends
And watch the city spread out just like a jet's flame
... Copied to Clipboard!
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