Jumped straight onto Ace Combat 5 after finishing 4 and while the gameplay and controls felt a little bit better, I thought the story dragged on for way too long. I still liked its themes and you definitely feel like you have a closer bond with your teammates compared to the previous entry, but it almost turned it a bit campy and unserious considering what the story is about.
Not gonna lie, the goofiness of the banter despite the sheer horrors happening, all that talk about "demons", the cult-like behavior of the Belkans........ I thought the game was going to pull a Drakengard on me by the end of it and having me fight actual otherworldly demons like some sort of reverse scenario of Ending E, which would have been both funny and incredibly ballsy to pull off but would have made the journey entirely worth it for me. Saddly it wasn't and while it's still a good game with good themes, I don't think it will stick with me like Shattered Skies did.
Not gonna lie, the goofiness of the banter despite the sheer horrors happening, all that talk about "demons", the cult-like behavior of the Belkans........ I thought the game was going to pull a Drakengard on me by the end of it and having me fight actual otherworldly demons like some sort of reverse scenario of Ending E, which would have been both funny and incredibly ballsy to pull off but would have made the journey entirely worth it for me. Saddly it wasn't and while it's still a good game with good themes, I don't think it will stick with me like Shattered Skies did.