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So I just decided to go ahead and beat it tonight since it would free up some time for me to get other shit done tomorrow and allow me to start my easy play through to round out the points needed for the X-02S (and to start the path toward a few trophies) and maybe start playing through 5 again. Overall I love this game and its nice that Bandai Namco finally decided to give Ace fans what they wanted after all these years. The story is very well written and as noted earlier in the topic takes place roughly 10 years after the events of 5 and it was nice to see all the little references and major plot points that linked back to the previous story (though I'm still pissed there was no reference to Wardog/Razgriz squadron nor do you even get to fly with/meet them in combat (though the ending redeemed that a little bit in my eyes with that transmission from Kei)). Boy did they pack in the references to the previous games, I was seriously loosing it when we fought at Stonehenge (a place I remember taking out in 4, yea all that damage you see there is caused by you in 4) and the briefing map having Megalith listed was awesome. Was nice seeing some of the squadrons I wiped off the map in 0 come back (Mage I'm looking at you) and one of those prisoners is from 0 as well. I really thought those were nice touches and really tied the story of all the games together (though I still haven't really seen a reference to 6 whose events took place only 4 years prior to this). Overall I thought the story was extremely well done though there were places I feel the writing could of used some work (like the whole throwing us in prison over something we didn't do). The mission variety was nice but I do agree with DX on the timed missions, they are aggravating as hell when you're given only 30 seconds to destroy 7 targets before the mission fails (I'm looking at you end part of Mission 20). I also had a problem with the "score so many points to either end or progress the mission" missions. It's aggravating as hell when most of your targets are worth little to no points but you still need to score 15,000 points before you can move on (oh and waste your ammo causing you to resupply if the mission even has a resupply line). Overall though there was a nice mix of aerial combat and ground combat mixed in (though that flying through the canyon mission still pisses me off, god damn those fucking spotlights). Combat was fun though I still feel there is some room for improvement. While a lot the aerial fights are fun I still feel 6 has far superior engagements to 7 (the Pasternak fight will always remain one of my all time favorite engagements in any Ace game). Drones were, while easy, an annoying part of a lot of missions and I can't stress enough how much that missile lock on alarm annoys the hell out of me because of these damn things. The crowning jewel of the combat comes with your engagements with Mister X. While not as fluid as the Pasternak fight they are extreme adrenaline rushes as he's one mean son of a bitch and those damn moves he can pull off are spectacular. I honestly wish he was the final fight in the game instead of those knock-off drones. I will admit though I had problems with the cloud systems they put in place as it really through me off my grove when fighting in or around them, while they're a nice touch I really would of preferred they not be there (and don't get me started on being struck by lightning, so fucking annoying). As usual the soundtrack was stellar (though I still prefer 5 and 0's soundtracks to this) and the voice acting some of the best in the series (will have to do a play through in Japanese to see if that's just as good). It goes without saying the graphics are amazing even on the old school PS4 and is probably one of the best looking games I've played in awhile (Detroit is still much better looking but damn does it come close). My only real gripe is the Aircraft tree system as I prefer the old method of acquiring planes through beating missions. It was extremely annoying knowing that I had to spend over a million points just to get the chance to unlock the F-22 and then another 920,000 just to get it and 220,000 to unlock all sp. weapons (which took, as I mentioned before, until mission 17 to acquire said points). I do, however, like the whole parts system they put in place as it allows you to customize you're plane to your liking (because you know making you're F-22 go faster is always a good thing). Honestly this game was a blast to play through and ranks up there as one of my favorite Ace titles taking second only to 5 (which isn't surprising as it's the parent story to what's going on specifically in this one). I write this all, however, having not played the multiplayer aspect because I honestly have no interest in playing it (I might give it a shot like I did 6's but quite frankly I never though multiplayer had a place in the Ace series outside of co-op missions (which I notice there is an extreme lack of those)). I also, obviously, don't have the ability to play the VR missions but I do here they are quite fun (I wish I could play them but I'm not dropping that much money to be able to play and handful of missions). Overall a solid entry in the franchise and I hope going forward that Bandai Namco sticks to the the Strangereal universe and doesn't give us anymore duds like Assault Horizon.