Ace Combat as a series is very often themed around the horrors or war, and firmly takes an anti-war stance in the stories it tells. That message can sometimes be muddied by the fact that, in these games, war is fun. However, Ace Combat Zero is the game that, to me, truly grapples with the horrors of war, the emotions that run high as the body count rises, and the horrible decisions that can come from those pushed into a corner. It's a deeply story driven game, and one that, for many in the fandom, is the best game in the franchise.
The merits of the story, and the characterization of the protagonists and enemies is what really sells the game. Every enemy ace squadron you fight has a personality and reason to fight that gets explored through the novel storytelling method of a post-war interviewer speaking to the survivors from your missions, creating this legend around the player character that mixes mythology with fact. Arthurian legend is the main draw for a lot of the symbolism used in this game, and it is used to great effect to add gravitas and personality to seemingly mundane missions. The use of a morality system here to track your level of destruction doesn't amount to much apart from the enemy ace squadrons you fight, but it's a great piece of worldbuilding that I wish more games in the series would adopt.
The missions in ACZ are where the game falters for me. While there are some standout missions, especially the final ones, there are a lot that just end up feeling quite generic, and lacking identity. Part of the reason for this is the option to choose between multiple missions at a given moment, preferring air-to-air or air-to-ground or some other combination. While this feature is novel, it means that each of the mission choices lacks much personality, since each one doesn't advance the story in any different ways than the other choices. The overall framing of the game picks up a lot of the slack for this bland mission design, but it's a definite regression from AC5 in my eyes.
The gameplay here is standard Ace Combat, returning to the AC4 approach of less planes than AC5, but each one having more weapon options. The roster of aircraft here is still very strong though, so the loss of planes is hardly a problem. The thing that really elevates a lot of this game, however, is the soundtrack. My god the soundtrack. The series has some truly iconic music choices, but this game has such a unique sound that it stands out from the rest. When the Spanish guitar kicks in, you know shit's about to go down.
Overall, ACZ is one of the best entries in the series, and probably the one that sticks out as the most introspective about its subject matter. For that it deserves its spot as the best in the series for some. For me though, the deficiencies in mission design really hamper the game in between the major set piece moments. Still though, Ace Combat would struggle to reach this height of quality for a while, and that's why AC4, 5, and Zero are considered the Holy Trinity by the fandom. These games are truly fantastic, and you couldn't ask for a better capstone to the Trinity than Zero.
The merits of the story, and the characterization of the protagonists and enemies is what really sells the game. Every enemy ace squadron you fight has a personality and reason to fight that gets explored through the novel storytelling method of a post-war interviewer speaking to the survivors from your missions, creating this legend around the player character that mixes mythology with fact. Arthurian legend is the main draw for a lot of the symbolism used in this game, and it is used to great effect to add gravitas and personality to seemingly mundane missions. The use of a morality system here to track your level of destruction doesn't amount to much apart from the enemy ace squadrons you fight, but it's a great piece of worldbuilding that I wish more games in the series would adopt.
The missions in ACZ are where the game falters for me. While there are some standout missions, especially the final ones, there are a lot that just end up feeling quite generic, and lacking identity. Part of the reason for this is the option to choose between multiple missions at a given moment, preferring air-to-air or air-to-ground or some other combination. While this feature is novel, it means that each of the mission choices lacks much personality, since each one doesn't advance the story in any different ways than the other choices. The overall framing of the game picks up a lot of the slack for this bland mission design, but it's a definite regression from AC5 in my eyes.
The gameplay here is standard Ace Combat, returning to the AC4 approach of less planes than AC5, but each one having more weapon options. The roster of aircraft here is still very strong though, so the loss of planes is hardly a problem. The thing that really elevates a lot of this game, however, is the soundtrack. My god the soundtrack. The series has some truly iconic music choices, but this game has such a unique sound that it stands out from the rest. When the Spanish guitar kicks in, you know shit's about to go down.
Overall, ACZ is one of the best entries in the series, and probably the one that sticks out as the most introspective about its subject matter. For that it deserves its spot as the best in the series for some. For me though, the deficiencies in mission design really hamper the game in between the major set piece moments. Still though, Ace Combat would struggle to reach this height of quality for a while, and that's why AC4, 5, and Zero are considered the Holy Trinity by the fandom. These games are truly fantastic, and you couldn't ask for a better capstone to the Trinity than Zero.