History YMMV / AceCombat7SkiesUnknown

* ThatOneLevel: Has its [[ThatOneLevel/AceCombat7SkiesUnknown own page]] now.

* CatharsisFactor: In ''Transfer Orders'' (Mission 10), you can shoot down HateSink Colonel D. [=McKinsey=]'s plane ''Roper One'' despite it failing the mission if you do this. Here's the kicker though, not only the game itself ''awards you with '''1,000''''' points, ''AWACS Bandog'' of all people sounds like he doesn't even care as he gives a rather deadpan reaction, making it all the more satisfying.
-->'''AWACS Bandog:''' ''Roper One'' lost, along with the mission. ''[[AssholeVictim Not that it was a load worth protecting]]''.

* CatharsisFactor:
** The first half of ''Pipeline Destruction'' (Mission 8) has you launching an assault on an enemy oil field. As you destroy one oil tank, the explosion will cause a chain reaction to other nearby targets as well. The sight of [[StuffBlowingUp enemy oil fields exploding in a massive inferno one after another]] is pretty cathartic. This also doubles as InUniverseCatharsis for Spare Squadron; [[BreatherLevel coming right after the encounter with Mister X in the Yinshi Valley]], Tabloid appreciates the simplicity of the operation, another Spare declares "This beats being stuck at the penal base!", and most of the radio chatter consists of various Spares enthusiastically commenting on the ensuing carnage--including one unnamed member cheering on Trigger if the player's dealt significant damage to the enemy facilities [[TimedMission before Megastorm Inessa II rolls in]].
--->'''Spare Squadron:''' Yeah! That's the stuff, Trigger! Go ape on 'em!
** The first half of ''Faceless Soldier'' (Mission 9) involves doing a "corridor flight" through mountain valleys with limited visibility due to cloud cover, special rules that cause players who rise above the clouds to get one-shotted if they don't go back under them within a few seconds, and an unclear path of traversal through the level resulting in some frustrating TrialAndErrorGameplay. However, the second half of the mission is a glorious turn around involving a pleasantly challenging furball of a battle set to awesome music where [[TeethClenchedTeamwork the fractious]] [=444th Squadron=] [[FireForgedFriends starts pulling together]] and [[SurprisinglyEliteCannonFodder kicking ass]], and is extremely morale-boosting moment after several missions spent being degraded as disposable.
** In ''Transfer Orders'' (Mission 10), you can shoot down HateSink Colonel D. [=McKinsey=]'s plane ''Roper One'' despite it failing the mission if you do this. Here's the kicker though, not only the game itself ''awards you with '''1,000''''' points, ''AWACS Bandog'' of all people sounds like he doesn't even care as he gives a rather deadpan reaction, making it all the more satisfying.
--->'''AWACS Bandog:''' ''Roper One'' lost, along with the mission. ''[[AssholeVictim Not that it was a load worth protecting]]''.
** In ''Fleet Destruction'' (Mission 11), there's nothing quite as satisfying as blowing out the support columns and watching the platforms topple over and fall into the sea, ''AND'' destroy any ships docked underneath them moments later. [[InUniverseCatharsis Even your allies comment on how wonderful it feels.]]

--> '''[=McKinsey=]:''' So it looks like we're getting attention from above. [[ItsAllAboutMe If any credit is due, it should come to me. Prisoners deserve nothing.]]

** [[spoiler:The significance of [[VideoGame/AceCombatZeroTheBelkanWar Belkan]] nationalists and how [[VideoGame/AceCombat5TheUnsungWar "they love to stir shit up."]] To them, Belka is just a random country that was suddenly mentioned in dialogue during Mission 16 and cutscenes before Missions 18 and 19.]]

** [[spoiler:Why did Harling turn his aircraft back to the space elevator, right in the middle of an intense air battle? Princess Cossette believes that he was trying to destroy the space elevator for all the chaos it caused, but Avril and most Oseans believe that he was trying to protect it from an incoming missile. The ending of the game seems to lean towards the latter, as it's revealed that the space elevator is where Captain Kei Nagase is supposed to dock her spacecraft, ''Pilgrim One'', after returning from a seven-year mission into outer space, a mission Harling himself pushed for, as revealed in ''Aces at War 2019.'' Harling was trying to help someone who saved his life and he couldn't even publicly thank.]]

** Matias Torres. Despite the fact that he plans on killing a million people to save ten million more, fans have found him to be quite endearing, thanks to his profile picture looking like a [[TheStoner stoner]], the fact that he and a large portion of his men survived being stuck underwater for two years, his ranting about how Trigger stepped over the [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Crisp! White! Sheets!]] of the bed he hist made with his dirty boots, his [[LargeHam shouting of ‘Salvation!’]] during "Anchorhead Raid" whenever an air burst bomb hits, and his VA, Armen Taylor, giving a [[EvilIsHammy bombastic performance]] during the "Ten Million Relief Plan".

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Four in-universe cases:

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Col. [=McKinsey=], the smarmy and selfish commander of Spare Squadron, is hated by players more than they hate the Eruseans that are at war with Osea [[spoiler:or the advanced-AI drones that comprise the {{Final Boss}}es]], as his animosity with Trigger and his squadmates is a lot closer, whereas the Eruseans [[spoiler:and superdrones]] are merely seen as typical in-the-line-of-duty threats to take out. He constantly berates Spare Squadron, throwing them into solitary confinement repeatedly for asinine reasons, [[UngratefulBastard even when their defiance of orders saves him and the rest of the base]], and tries to take all the credit for Spare Squadron's hard work, even outright declaring that the squadron deserves no thanks for their efforts during one particular debriefing. [[spoiler:So it's refreshing for many players when he gets "promoted" to a dangerous frontline position as a [[StolenCreditBackfire "reward" for taking their credit]].]] During your last mission with him as commander, you have to escort his plane and protect him from Erusean fighters. If his plane is destroyed, Bandog remarks that [[AssholeVictim it was not a load worth protecting]].

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Col. [=McKinsey=], the smarmy and selfish commander of Spare Squadron, is hated by players more than they hate the Eruseans that are at war with Osea [[spoiler:or the advanced-AI drones that comprise the {{Final Boss}}es]], as his animosity with Trigger and his squadmates is a lot closer, whereas the Eruseans [[spoiler:and superdrones]] are merely seen as typical in-the-line-of-duty threats to take out. He constantly berates Spare Squadron, throwing them into solitary confinement repeatedly for asinine reasons, [[UngratefulBastard even when their defiance of orders saves him and the rest of the base]], and tries to take all the credit for Spare Squadron's hard work, even outright declaring that the squadron deserves no thanks for their efforts during one particular debriefing. [[spoiler:So it's refreshing for many players when he gets "promoted" to a dangerous frontline position as a [[StolenCreditBackfire "reward" for taking their credit]].]]

--> '''[=McKinsey=]'': So it looks like we're getting attention from above. [[ItsAllAboutMe If any credit is due, it should come to me. Prisoners deserve nothing.]]

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Col. [=McKinsey=], the smarmy and selfish commander of Spare Squadron, is hated by players more than they hate the Eruseans that are at war with Osea [[spoiler:or the advanced-AI drones that comprise the {{Final Boss}}es]], as his animosity with Trigger and his squadmates is a lot closer, whereas the Eruseans [[spoiler:and superdrones]] are merely seen as typical in-the-line-of-duty threats to take out. He constantly berates Spare Squadron, throwing them into solitary confinement repeatedly for asinine reasons, [[UngratefulBastard even when their defiance of orders saves him and the rest of the base]], and tries to take all the credit for Spare Squadron's hard work, even outright declaring that the squadron deserves no credit during one particular debriefing. [[spoiler:So it's refreshing for many players when he gets "promoted" to a dangerous frontline position as a [[StolenCreditBackfire "reward" for taking their credit]].]]

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Col. [=McKinsey=] is hated by players more than they hate the Eruseans that are at war with Osea [[spoiler:or the advanced-AI drones that comprise the {{Final Boss}}es]], as his animosity with Trigger and his squadmates is a lot closer, whereas the Eruseans [[spoiler:and superdrones]] are merely seen as typical in-the-line-of-duty threats to take out. He constantly berates Spare Squadron, throwing them into solitary confinement repeatedly for asinine reasons, [[UngratefulBastard even when their defiance of orders saves him and the rest of the base]], and tries to take all the credit for Spare Squadron's hard work, even outright declaring that the squadron deserves no credit during one particular debriefing. [[spoiler:So it's refreshing for many players when he gets "promoted" to a dangerous frontline position as a [[StolenCreditBackfire "reward" for taking their credit]].]]

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Col. [=McKinsey=] is hated by players more than they hate the Eruseans that are at war with Osea [[spoiler:or the advanced-AI drones that comprise the {{Final Boss}}es]], as his animosity with Trigger and his squadmates is a lot closer, whereas the Eruseans [[spoiler:and superdrones]] are merely seen as typical in-the-line-of-duty threats to take out. He constantly berates Spare Squadron, throwing them into solitary confinement repeatedly for asinine reasons, [[UngratefulBastard even when their defiance of orders saves him and the rest of the base]], and tries to take all the credit for Spare Squadron's hard work. [[spoiler:So it's refreshing for many players when he gets "promoted" to a dangerous frontline position as a [[StolenCreditBackfire "reward" for taking their credit]].]]

* JerksAreWorseThanTheVillains: Col. [=McKinsey=] is hated by players more than they hate the Eruseans that are at war with Osea [[spoiler:or the advanced-AI drones that comprise the {{Final Boss}}es]], as his animosity with Trigger and his squadmates is a lot closer. He constantly berates Spare Squadron, throwing them into solitary confinement repeatedly for asinine reasons, [[UngratefulBastard even when their defiance of orders saves him and the rest of the base]], and tries to take all the credit for Spare Squadron's hard work. [[spoiler:So it's refreshing for many players when he gets "promoted" to a dangerous frontline position as a [[StolenCreditBackfire "reward" for taking their credit]].]]

** Mission 18: ''Lost Kingdom'' is this in mission form, at least the fist half of it. You're essentially raiding a small defenceless country for food and supplies. Combined with the enemy soldiers’ cries for help as you bomb them, it will leave you feeling like a complete bastard. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCwLnlX9fcs music]] is [[SadBattleMusic fairly appropriate]] for this reason alone.

* DifficultySpike:
** Mission 6, "Long Day", the first "annihilation" mission (a mission with a fixed timer and a minimum score to clear) is infamously difficult for players unfamiliar with the series, as it is the first mission in the game that cannot be cleared by simply eliminating designated targets and taking on a map with so many enemies over such a large area for the first time can be overwhelming.
** Your time in Spare Squadron is a marked change from the time before. You're a member of an ArmyOfThievesAndWhores who will [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere bug out]] when the going gets hard, leaving you to ContinueYourMissionDammit as a OneManArmy. Because the 444 are officially the {{Red Shirt}}s in your side's "WeHaveReserves" tactics, you're constantly throw into dangerous and absurd situations -- and a ''variety'' of them too, forcing you to TrialAndErrorGameplay your way through each mission because you don't have the MRP to buy the fighters that will handle the whole thing (and sometimes mandating ForcedLevelGrinding to get something that ''can''). And your MissionControl is out to get you, only complimenting you, ''once'', when you finally pass from his jurisdiction. (It's telling that Trigger's RecurringRiff only plays once throughout the entire section -- though when it does kick in, it's not only in the form of EpicRocking, it's the source of the InUniverse {{Meme}} "Stick with Trigger and you'll make it.") The missions in the 444 are ''not'' fair... but that's entirely justified, given the plot; and passing through their DarkestHour makes you feel like a genuine AcePilot.

** [[CompetitiveBalance For balancing purposes]], certain SP weapons carried by DLC planes were severely nerfed in gameplay when compared to their [[PurposelyOverpowered game-breaking power]] in previous games, a change that was not well-received by more than a few veterans of the series who had an affinity for these planes. The most contentious example seems to be the power of the TLS shared by all three Season 1 DLC planes, which is horribly underpowered (even with the damage mod installed) to the point that one needs to fire multiple shots to take down a hard target. Contrast this performance with its capabilities in ''Ace Combat 5'' and ''Ace Combat Zero'' where, in the right hands, it could wipe out all enemies on the screen with ease. The same applies to the Falken's FAEB and the Morgan's MPBM. While they look flashy on the surface, [[AwesomeButImpractical they're not really useful]] to take down anything other than clustered weak targets, as even with the customization parts that increase special weapon damage, those weapons will still fail to take down most hard targets (any ship bigger than a Destroyer, the Arsenal Bird's propellers, etc.) in one shot. This is all made even worse by the fact that values for special weapons are ''stored separately'' for each mode, meaning the nerfs were completely unnecessary in single-player. While PC players can get around this with mods, console players are left with underwhelming versions of their favorite superweapons.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: [[CompetitiveBalance For balancing purposes]], certain SP weapons carried by DLC planes were severely nerfed in gameplay when compared to their [[PurposelyOverpowered game-breaking power]] in previous games, a change that was not well-received by more than a few veterans of the series who had an affinity for these planes. The most contentious example seems to be the power of the TLS shared by all three Season 1 DLC planes, which is horribly underpowered (even with the damage mod installed) to the point that one needs to fire multiple shots to take down a hard target. Contrast this performance with its capabilities in ''Ace Combat 5'' and ''Ace Combat Zero'' where, in the right hands, it could wipe out all enemies on the screen with ease. The same applies to the Falken's FAEB and the Morgan's MPBM. While they look flashy on the surface, [[AwesomeButImpractical they're not really useful]] to take down anything other than clustered weak targets, as even with the customization parts that increase special weapon damage, those weapons will still fail to take down most hard targets (any ship bigger than a Destroyer, the Arsenal Bird's propellers, etc.) in one shot. This is all made even worse by the fact that values for special weapons are ''stored separately'' for each mode, meaning the nerfs were completely unnecessary in single-player. While PC players can get around this with mods, console players are left with underwhelming versions of their favorite superweapons.

** The comment in Mission 18 about Mihaly's orange wingtips being the color of the flames of Hell initially comes across as ironically humorous for a man named after an archangel to evoke Hellish imagery. Come the release of ''VideoGame/ProjectWingman'', where SceneryGorn of orange Hellscapes mark some of the times things go horribly wrong for all involved, and it's not so amusing anymore.
* HilariousInHindsight: The various jokes about Trigger's [[ButtMonkey unfortunate]] [[GuyInBack WSO]] are this following the release of ''VideoGame/ProjectWingman'', which takes a lot of inspiration from ''Ace Combat'', where your WSO is a voiced character, and is established as normally being one of your squadron's mechanics, but is pressed into service as your WSO when needed because she is the only person capable of withstanding the strain of [[ImprobablePilotingSkills your piloting]]. [[spoiler: As if to show how hard being the WSO to an Ace Combat player character would be, she actually passes out due to strain part way through the final mission of the game]].

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** That Golden Retriever dog that's a static image in a cutscene with 3D characters, which sparked a mass outbreak of memes? Turns out that's [[https://twitter.com/kazutoki/status/1087219282549899265 Kono's tribute]] to a fellow developer's dog who passed away during the game's development. It also probably doesn't help that [[spoiler:in the game itself, the dog was gunned down by Erusean radicals while trying to protect Cossette]].
** The comment in Mission 18 about Mihaly's orange wingtips being the color of the flames of Hell initially comes across as ironically humorous for a man named after an archangel to evoke Hellish imagery. Come the release of ''VideoGame/ProjectWingman'', where SceneryGorn of orange Hellscapes mark some of the times things go horribly wrong for all involved, and it's not so amusing anymore.

* FriendlyFandoms: With the release of SP Mission 2 "Anchorhead Raid" [=DLC=], there has been a [[https://www.reddit.com/r/acecombat/comments/do25rm/tomorrow_there_will_be_no_shortage_of_aces/ surge]] [[https://www.reddit.com/r/acecombat/comments/dlfsen/well_whod_have_thought_call_of_duty_would/ of]] [[https://www.reddit.com/r/acecombat/comments/dlsytr/anchorhead_raid_spoilers_without_any_context/ crossovers]] with the ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' series due to the presence of one [[NamesTheSame Lieutenant General Shepherd]] - with numerous theories flaring up about which role he would play in the next SP Mission and combining events in the MW series with that of Ace Combat. It helps that not long after the mission was released, [[https://twitter.com/kazutoki/status/1187595481490132992 Kazutoki Kono has posted on Twitter]] saying that he intends to play the reboot ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2019'' as well.

* WinBackTheCrowd: After the last major title in the series, ''VideoGame/AceCombatAssaultHorizon'', split the fanbase over its real-world setting and gameplay changes, this game appears to be RevisitingTheRoots. It explicitly takes place in [[ConstructedWorld Strangereal]], does away with the divisive "Close Range Assault" mechanic from ''Assault Horizon'', and pre-release material contains several nods to ''VideoGame/AceCombat04ShatteredSkies'', which is highly regarded and one of the most successful titles in the series.

* EightPointEight: IGN's 7.0 score review of the game caught quite a lot of flak from the fans as well as from game director Kono himself. The leading criticisms are the reviewer [[ItsHardSoItSucks complaining about the game's apparent difficulty]] as well as the fact that the reviewer only played using the "Normal" control scheme. [[note]]''VideoGame/AceCombat'' games traditionally come with a "Normal" and "Advanced" control scheme. Normal is meant for beginners, but severely limits the types of maneuvers your plane can perform, and ends up becoming much more of a detriment in the long run. Advanced controls are generally considered the intended way to play the game, though some players are known to get by just fine with Normal controls even before they have access to better/more easily maneuverable planes in the Aircraft Tree.[[/note]] [[https://twitter.com/kazutoki/status/1087230242853474305 Kono publicly chastised]] IGN for basing their entire review on playing with Normal controls.

** The three [=DLC=] missions turn all of the above UpToEleven. There are significantly more enemies that literally fill the screen, they won't hesitate to gang up on you all at once, and they ''keep respawning''. The missiles are even more accurate than in the vanilla game, and the bosses introduced have gimmicks that prevent you from attacking them easily (Mimic Squadron with jamming, the ''Alicorn'' with its [[spoiler:barrier drones]] and CIWS). The first two missions are score-based with pretty high bars to clear under the time limit (''most'' of the low and mid-tier planes do not have a missile stock high enough to reach the score in time without making every shot count, even on easy difficulty), and the final mission's first half is a difficult EscortMission where the targets you have to protect go down very easily and are spread all over the map. All three missions also have very strict S-rank conditions.