Line #22 YMMV/AceCombat6FiresOfLiberation


1	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[AwesomeMusic/AceCombat This IS an Ace Combat game, after all.]] To give but two examples of the amazing musical score, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-bluI0DEpw "Invasion of Gracemeria"]] starts things off with a hopeful and gallant, tribal-influenced march that will make you ''want'' to [[ArcWords go dance with the angels]], while its TriumphantReprise [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhdNjzX4waA "The Liberation of Gracemeria"]] is considered to be one of the series' all-time greats with its slow buildup and powerfully exultant feel.
2	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Shamrock's decision to disobey direct orders, leading to him and Talisman ([[ButThouMust who cannot disagree with him]]) getting suspended, has literally no effect on the plot. The very next mission, Garuda Team are forced to go after [=WMDs=] the Estovakians are about to ship into Gracemeria... which, if prior CharacterDevelopment is any indication, Command would have ordered them to do anyway, and which the two would have happily taken on anyway. After succeeding, the Garudas are cleared of wrongdoing, and life is back to normal. Was there a point? (Especially when his HeroicBSOD in Mission 14 is even more effective than this one.)
3	* DemonicSpiders:
4	** The Strigon Team planes can be really, ''really'' annoying to get a bead on, while they don't have nearly as much of a problem shoving missiles up your tailpipe. And that's assuming that you're on a mission where [[HopelessBossFight you can even shoot them down]].
5	** The ultimate spiders of ''[=AC6=]'', if not ''VideoGame/AceCombat'' as a whole, have to be the Nimbus drones, and Pasternak's [=UAVs=] are even worse than those. Even once you master the art of shooting them down, it still comes down to whether or not the computer allows you to hit them or not.
6	*** Actually, you can hit them -- it's just very hard to get a very good lock-on and catching them when they're not maneuvering like sparrows on steroids. Same thing goes with Pasternak's [=UCAVs=], but that has more to do with how long you can dodge the constant barrage of [=ADMMs=] and gunfire.
7	*** Once you get the hang of it, it's not hard to destroy a Nimbus drone. They sit pretty well in one place for a short time when the missiles come in, letting a quick QAAM or well-timed SAAM shot get the best of them.
8	*** As for the others, you can just go the [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill No Kill Like Overkill]] route and call in [[BadassArmy Allied]] [[MacrossMissileMassacre Support]] on them. Allied Cover is great for cleaning up Pasternak's drones.
9	* GameBreaker: [[GameBreaker/AceCombat Has its own page.]]
10	* {{Glurge}}: Melissa's story is an attempt to recapture the boy's story from ''[[VideoGame/AceCombat04ShatteredSkies Shattered Skies]]'', but while that story was heavy and tragic but surprisingly grounded despite being from the point of view of a child going through incredible hardship amidst a war, Melissa's story is often accused of trying way too hard to tug at your heartstrings to the point that it becomes hard to take seriously despite being more involved with the war's plot.
11	* HarsherInHindsight:
12	** The story starts off with the Russian/Eastern European-expy Estovakia going to war as a last ditch attempt to recover its economy after being devastated by meteor impacts. On February 14th, 2013, [[http://edition.cnn.com/2013/02/15/world/europe/russia-meteor-shower/?hpt=hp_t1 hundreds of people in Russia were injured (thankfully no deaths or major damage) as a direct result of a meteor shower.]]
13	** In another sad real-life parallel to Strangereal history, Russia launched a large-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine on February 24th, 2022. Not unlike the attack on Gracemeria, the conflict began with an air strike targeting the capital of Kyiv (among several other major Ukrainian cities), followed by reports of Russian ground forces meeting fierce resistance from Ukranian armed forces and paramilitary on their way to the capital. The situation flipped in November 2022, where once reports of Kherson being liberated by the Ukranian forces began spreading, people began celebrating with the song "The Liberation of Gracemeria" (see SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic above), calling it "The Liberation of Kherson" instead.
14	* LowTierLetdown: This game's incarnation of the F/A-18F is widely hated by many ''Ace Combat'' fans who like to fly the Hornet line, due to being one of the slower F/A-18s in the series and having a mediocre special weapon loadout.
15	* MemeticBadass: The entire Emmerian Armed Forces are canonically incredibly competent for A.I. allies, but '''Captain Ford of the ''Marigold''''' in particular is depicted as [[https://www.reddit.com/r/acecombat/comments/loi6v1/me_i_spent_way_too_much_time_on_that_last_meme/ an interuniversal angel of death]] pulling TheCavalry duty to the triumphant strains of "The Liberation of Gracemeria"'s chorus.
16	* MemeticLoser: Strigon Squadron is sometimes regarded as this by ''Ace Combat'' veterans, because of the fact that they can get shot down by no-name mooks on your side. It makes them look a lot weaker compared to other rival squadrons, which most rival squadron planes can only be shot down by you or your wingmen.
17	* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound: The allied attack sound, followed by allied squadrons moving in to assist you.
18	* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler:The Estovakians using the Chandelier on Gracemeria, for the sole purpose of leveling it, civilians and all.]]
19	* {{Narm}}:
20	** [[ArcWords "Go dance with the angels!"]]
21	*** Get used to hearing that nearly every cutscene. ''Every cutscene.''
22	** Everyone in this game is a wannabe poet and none of them are any good at it.
23	---> "I vaguely hear a scream of terror that sounds much like my own voice from afar... I feel as though the Golden King's gentle smile is moving... moving further away from me."
24	** Melissa mentions having made millions of wishes with her husband during the Ulysses planetfall...then you realize that while they were doing that, the very "falling stars" they wished upon were killing hundreds of Estovakians just a few dozen miles eastward. Makes you wonder why ''they'' are cast as bad guys after that.
25	** Don't forget Ghost Eye's reaction to [[spoiler:Shamrock getting shot down]]. He sounds almost bored when it happens to you!
26	** Let's face it; it's hard to take ''any'' moment in the game seriously if you're using one of the DLC ''[[VideoGame/TheIdolmaster iDOLM@STER]]'' planes.
27	* PlayTheGameSkipTheStory: The story is a cheesy, fairly straightforward retread of ''VideoGame/AceCombat04ShatteredSkies'' with a lack of in-depth characters and has monotonous (if not {{Narm}}-tastic) voice acting put front and center, though it has a bit of NarmCharm for series veterans and approaches the on-the-ground perspectives mid-war in a unique way. What most fans are really here for is the SerialEscalation of the gameplay, from the Wingman system, to mid-mission Operations as sub-objectives to accomplish for in-game benefits, and topping it all off with some genuinely intense and beloved mission design. It's one of the only ''Ace Combat'' games remembered primarily for its gameplay quality as a result.
28	* SamePlotSequel: More of a Same Plot ''Prequel'', but still, the story is pretty much a retelling of ''[[VideoGame/AceCombatXSkiesOfDeception Skies of Deception]]'': an authoritarian country (Leasath/Estovakia), having recovered from a lengthy civil war and led by military personnel (Diego Navarro/The Generals) blame their western democratic neighbours (Aurelia/Emmeria) and invade them, quickly defeating them through use of airborne military craft (Gleipnir/Aigaion), and the rest is [[BackFromTheBrink like every other Ace Combat game]]. It recycles some elements from ''[[VideoGame/AceCombat04ShatteredSkies Shattered Skies]]'' as well, notably the Ulysses planetfall being a crucial part of the game's backstory.
29	* ThatOneBoss: "The Liberation of Gracemeria" is by far one of the best climax missions the series has to offer, with a whopping 6 operations to choose from and a required completion quota of 4, mixing air, ground and sea battles in a giant map. All is good... until you hit the second phase of the mission and you are pit against Pasternak's missile-spamming CFA-44 and his army of [=UAVs=], the latter of which are infuriatingly hard to shoot down due to unpredictable A.I. Because you are required to shoot down a large number of them to ensure an overall S Rank in the mission [[note]]even if you complete all 4 operations with a S Rank in each prior to the mission update, getting a C Rank against Pasternak is a surefire overall A Rank. To get an S rank in the second part, at least ''35'' drones have to be shot down before Pasternak is downed.[[/note]], players cite this boss fight to be the cheapest wrench to dampen an otherwise excellent mission, and a major reason to call the Estovakian ace "[[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard Pasterhack]]."
30	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Pasternak. The story introduces him as a potential rival to Garuda Team, but you don't really meet him until "The Liberation of Gracemaria", where you end up killing him ([[ThatOneBoss excruciatingly tough fight notwithstanding]]). This is jarring since Voychek's story arc is superior and practically carries the Estovakian perspective of the war.
31	* UnintentionalUncannyValley: Most of the people models in this game look really wrong, more like animated mannequins than actual people.
32	* VindicatedByHistory: [[DownplayedTrope To a degree.]] In the early years following the release of ''Fires of Liberation'', very few ''AC'' players actually played the game, due to the [[ChannelHop console hop]] to the Platform/Xbox360 that made many longtime fans seethe (as all the preceding games, from ''VideoGame/AirCombat'' to ''VideoGame/{{Ace Combat Zero\|TheBelkanWar}}'', were exclusive to Sony's Platform/PlayStation [[Platform/PlayStation2 brand]]). After ''[[VideoGame/AceCombatAssaultHorizon Assault Horizon]]'' dropped, however, fans became a lot more forgiving. Said players and fans gave the game a try, and while the general consensus is that the story elements and characterization aren't quite on par with [[VideoGame/AceCombat04ShatteredSkies the]] [[VideoGame/AceCombat5TheUnsungWar Holy]] [[VideoGame/AceCombatZeroTheBelkanWar Trilogy]] (or [[SequelDisplacement the oft-overlooked]] -- and [[BadExportForYou unfortunately neutered in translation]] -- ''[[VideoGame/AceCombat3Electrosphere Electrosphere]]''), ''[=AC6=]'' still had several good things going for it: a phenomenal soundtrack ([[AwesomeMusic/AceCombat no surprises there]]), solid gameplay accompanying ''tremendously'' large-scale battles that put the rest of the series to shame, and being the last major (read: console) title set in Strangereal [[SequelGap for over a decade]] until ''VideoGame/{{Ace Combat 7\|SkiesUnknown}}''[='s=] release.
33	* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome:
34	** The graphics in ''Ace Combat 6'' allow for SceneryPorn and [[TheWarSequence battle scenes]] in truly ''huge'' scale never seen before in the series. You can fly through thick realistic-looking clouds, dance with missiles which leaves trailing smoke behind, witness ''several battalions'' of armies duking it out across the vast beautiful maps, tank shells, rockets and cruise missiles flying everywhere. All in HD glory. Many years after its release, the graphics are noted to still hold up well.
35	** At the time of the release, the official website had a minigame where visitors were tasked with telling the differences between in-game screenshots and real aircraft photos.

Context YMMV / AceCombat6FiresOfLiberation