History VideoGame / AceCombat7SkiesUnknown

* ALighterShadeofGrey:
** Osea is heavily implied to have some of the same real-world political problems of modern-day (as of 2019) America: harsh laws, an over-budgeted trigger-happy military, neocolonialist imperialist tendencies dressed up as international aid that wind up screwing over other countries' economies, and an overstuffed prison system. It ''still'' isn't the aggressor in the Lighthouse War, and [[spoiler:it turns out Harding genuinely wanted the Space Elevator as an international effort for all countries, and not for Osea to gain the upper hand in the space race. On top of this, it's stated the Royal Family was goaded and groomed into accepting war for Erusea's own imperialist tendencies by military officers]]

** What were the supply ships launched in Mission 17 carrying? ''Aces at War'' reveals the supply ships launched from Tyler Island's mass driver contain ammunition and fuel for the MQ-101s, as well as engine lubricant and munitions (such as Helios) for the Arsenal Birds.

** Mihaly's [[spoiler: EML]] can't take you down in a single hit. So long as you have taken less than a certain amount of damage, it will take you to 99%, no matter how much damage you had taken before. It's even {{Lampshaded}} by Mihaly, who notes that the shot partially missed, and if you HAD been shot down immediately, it wouldn't be much of a fight.

** In Missions 16 and 17, holding down the target button to use the zoom feature will help identify unknown targets much faster and from further away. Your allies will eventually identify unknowns on their own if given enough time.

* ArcWelding: While most ''Ace Combat'' games have standalone stories with some ContinuityNod here and there, ''Ace Combat 7'' is the one that has plot points connected to many games in the series, mainly ''VideoGame/AceCombat04ShatteredSkies'' and ''VideoGame/AceCombat5TheUnsungWar''. The countries Erusea and Osea, two major countries from the two games finally interacted with each other, and the motivation of the leaders of both factions are tied with the aftermath of the conflicts that happened in their own games. Princess Cossette wants to protect Erusea's sovereignty from a potential threat posed by Osea's Space Elevator because she does not want to see her country fall for the second time. The Space Elevator itself is also the brainchild of [[spoiler: former Osean President Vincent Harling, who envisions the tower to be a symbol of unity and a bridge for mankind to reach into outer space after the Circum-Pacific War ended, and a replacement for the fallen Arkbird (which was built for the same purpose). Belka is once again revealed to be the root behind the conflict, with some Belkan individuals ''still'' looking to avenge their country after it was defeated in ''VideoGame/AceCombatZeroTheBelkanWar'', and manipulates Erusea into going to war with Osea by providing them with advanced AI technology to create a drone army derived from the Zone of Endless project from ''VideoGame/AceCombat2'' (and slightly expanded upon in its VideoGameRemake, ''VideoGame/AceCombatAssaultHorizonLegacy''). Said drone army proved to be so advanced, it's implied that it paved the way for the rise of A.I. pilots in ''VideoGame/AceCombat3Electrosphere'' as well. Mihaly's advanced G-suit that he gets halfway through the game to assist him with flying shares a lot of qualities with the COFFIN system utilized in ''Electrosphere,'' making it a likely predecessor to COFFIN.]]

* AscendedGlitch: The August 2020 update, which added several skins in collaboration with the United States Armed Forces, had a bug where the Red Devils F/A-18F skin would show up as a glowing blue-white instead of the proper skin design. This was popular and amusing, but was quickly patched away. Later, with the game's second anniversary update, Project Aces added several previous player character skins, a Crow Team skin for the F-16C from ''VideoGame/AceCombatZeroTheBelkanWar'', a Ridgebacks Team skin for the ASF-X Shinden II from ''VideoGame/AceCombatInfinity'', UPEO skins for the Eurofighter Typhoon and SU-37 from ''VideoGame/AceCombat3Electrosphere'', and a glowing skin for the X-02S Strike Wyvern that replicates the old glowing glitch at all times.

** Count shoots down [[spoiler:Full Band]] due to his IFF designating him as an enemy after Erusean drones spoof Osean IFF signals and, on suggestion from the rest of the group, Bandog hastily redesignates everyone not formed up around Trigger as hostile. [[spoiler:It's implied that Bandog did this on purpose (Count certainly believes so).]]

** When [[spoiler:the Erusean Civil War breaks out]], both sides commit massive war crimes: [[spoiler:the Conservatives]] begin shooting Belkans on sight, even plain-ol' civilians and ''fully naturalized soldiers'', which [[spoiler:accidentally tips the war in Osea's favour by causing a key soldier in Erusea's frame-up of Trigger to defect to Osea]]... and then you have the [[spoiler:Radicals,]] who want to dominate the world and outright massacre ''entire refugee convoys'' regardless of nationality for being "cowards", up to [[spoiler:trying to kill the Princess herself for daring to lead a refugee convoy.]]

** When [[spoiler:the Erusean Civil War breaks out]], both sides commit massive war crimes: [[spoiler:the Conservatives]] begin shooting Belkans on sight, even plain-ol' civilians and ''fully naturalized soldiers, which [[spoiler:accidentally tips the war in Osea's favour by causing a key soldier in Erusea's frame-up of Trigger to defect to Osea]]... and then you have the [[spoiler:Radicals,]] who want to dominate the world and outright massacre entire ''entire refugee convoys'' regardless of nationality for being "cowards", up to [[spoiler:trying to kill the Princess herself for daring to lead a refugee convoy.]]

** The [=DarkStar=] from the ''Film/TopGunMaverick'' aircraft set is a sleek-looking and very powerful futuristic stealth fighter with a design worthy of the original aircraft that Ace Combat has created themselves-- just as long as you don't fly it from inside the Cockpit view. The plane only has two viewports to the sides, and the in-game cockpit adds a 3rd to the roof for the player's sake, because looking out directly ahead from your cockpit is nothing but a giant X obscuring your field of vision by the plane itself.
*** This even extends to the plane as a whole. It has close to, if not the, highest straightline speed in the game but it handles only marginally better than a beached whale making it a royal pain in any close range, high manueverability dog fight. Don't even think about dogfighting in the clouds, as the lasers that replace the machine gun are useless in clouds.

*** CutScene: "The ''Admiral Anderson''", a celebration of not only Trigger's recent successes, but of the final actions of the ''Kestrel'' at the end of ''AC5''.

** There are a number of short tunnels and underpasses in the game. Flying through them nearly always spawns a [[GottaCatchEmAll named ace]].

** Heavily implied to be the reason why Avril was sent to the penal base at Zapland under the guise of breaking wartime aviation laws. Osea needed mechanics to restore mothballed aircraft as decoys for the base, and they knew Avril had successfully restored a supersonic fighter.

** There is overall a surprising level of detail on the various mission maps. In Mission 1 you take off in the midst of an air raid, and the activity of the base reflects to prove it; people running around, ground vehicles mobilizing for emergency response, and other aircraft lining up to take off behind you as choppers lift off from helipads. And the kicker is that those units don't just ''disappear'' once you get far enough from the base; they ''all'' have their own set locations and objectives to get to. For example, as you begin your takeoff roll, a pair of Chinook helicopters next to you take off as well. If you follow them, they cross the channel and hover near a burning watch tower, ostensibly for the purposes of recovering injured personnel. In Mission 2, when you begin the attack on the airbase, you can not only hear enemy radio chatter referencing the preparation of the drones you fight in the last part of the mission, but, if you have a good eye, you can actually ''see'' the disguised container trucks moving across the airfield from their staging positions to the launch positions. The game will even hold off on moving to the final part of the mission until all the trucks are in position, even if you already somehow cleared the area of objectives.

** Mihaly's [[spoiler: EML]] can't take you down in a single hit. So long as you have taken less than a certain amount of damage, it will take you to 99%, no matter how much damage you had taken before. It's even {{Lampshaded}} by Mihaly, who notes that if you HAD been shot down immediately, it wouldn't be much of a fight.

* ArtificialBrilliance: {{Invoked}} with the Arsenal Bird. Any attempt to destroy it from long distance is met with swarms of drones TakingTheBullet. If you fly in closer, the drones will [[InstantDeathRadius simultaneously target you]].

* RocBirds: Jaeger compares the Arsenal Birds to the legendary Roc. Considering its size compared to regular fighters, it's pretty apt.

** As usual for the series, though it's taken UpToEleven here. The 444th Fighter Squadron which Trigger is a part of is composed of expendable convicts that the Osean Air Force does not hesitate to send them into suicidal battles, hence most of their missions pit the squadron against impossible odds with almost zero hope to survive, including an intense air-to-ground operation in a series of cloudy valleys while under the watch of a powerful satellite-based anti-air defense system.

** During Mission 04, an Erusean controller says that the Arsenal Birds' strategic AI sent ''Liberty'' over ''Justice'' to come defend the space elevator. [[spoiler:After the communications blackout, nations annexed by Erusea claim independance and start purging anybody related to Belka and the drone technology in revenge, choosing their liberty over justice towards the real culprits (the Radical Eruseans and what's left of the Grey Men)]].

** Missions involving the LRSSG eventually become a terrifying experience in-universe for the Erusean military thanks to the sheer amount of destruction Trigger inflicts and their complete inability to stop him. It gets so bad that a recurring [=MiG=]-31B pilot in the first two DLC missions ''immediately'' [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere beats a hasty retreat]] upon realizing "[[TheDreaded Three Strikes]]" is in the area, claiming his aircraft was suffering from mechanical problems (a remarkable coincidence as his squadron pokes fun at).

* AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs: The Space Elevator gets occupied by the Eruseans at the outset of the war. The nearby city of Selatapura, which seceded from Erusea, is also taken.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: The ADF-11F RAVEN can deploy smaller unmanned drones from its underbelly. It may sound like a ridiculous concept, but [[https://www.kratosdefense.com/systems-and-platforms/unmanned-systems/aerial/tactical-uavs#UTAP22 such UAVs actually exists]], with the UTAP-22 being tested in the very year that the game was released in.

** Mihaly's [[spoiler: EML]] can't take you down in a single hit. So long as you have taken less than a certain amount of damage, it will take you to 99%, no matter how much damage you had taken before.

** AWACS Long Caster mentions that he'll take the squadron out to eat at an "Italian bistro" in town, despite the fact that the country of Italy doesn't exist in Strangereal.
** There's also an early offhand mention of "Jesus," which would mean that Christianity ''somehow'' exists. Although this shouldn't be that surprising since ''VideoGame/AceCombatXSkiesOfDeception'' showed Christmas exists.

!!Can you hear me, tropes with the three strikes:

** The Tactical Laser System packs a powerful punch, but it's strictly bore sighted, denying you the ability to lead your target like a conventional gun, can't penetrate clouds, and you have to remain facing your target while you fire, which means you can't maneuver away from enemy missiles.

*** This even extends to the plane as a whole. It has close to, if not the, highest straightline speed in the game but it handles only marginally better than a beached whale making it a royal pain in any close range, high manueverability dog fight.

* BadBoss: Col. [=McKinsey=], who runs the 444th, and to a lesser extent Bandog, the AWACS contact who serves as their MissionControl, certainly qualify. [=McKinsey=] is an open GloryHound who plans to ride to victory on the sweat (and corpses) of his pilots. Bandog will actively ''discourage'' Spare Squadron from accomplishing mission objectives if doing so would yield lower casualties.
** During the mission "Transfer Orders", should you fail the primary objective [[spoiler:Bandog doesn't even care you failed, saying something to the effect that nothing of value was lost.]] [[ButThouMust But of course]], you still have to complete the objective to progress, though it is justified in-universe by the fact that [[spoiler: your escort target promises to help Trigger clear his name of the murder accusation should he safely arrive.]]

* WeHaveReserves: Spare Squadron is frequently reminded of who they are.
-->'''Col. [=McKinsey=]''': Remember, you are not bona-fide military. You are expendable.

** This even extends to the plane as a whole. It has close to, if not the, highest straightline speed in the game, but it handles only marginally better than a beached whale making it a royal pain in any close range, high manueverability dog fight.

** The aircraft carrier ''Kestrel II'' plays a part in the story, as a successor to the [[VideoGame/AceCombat5TheUnsungWar original]] OFS ''Kestrel''. [[spoiler: [[WhatDidYouExpectWhenYouNamedIt It is sunk during its maiden voyage during the initial attack on Farbanti at the start of the war]]]].
** The [[spoiler:''Admiral Andersen'' breaks the ThemeNaming tradition of Osean vessels as a tribute to the original ''Kestrel'''s captain, who proved instrumental in ending the Circum-Pacific war. It plays a larger role, being the abandoned carrier that launches Trigger's craft in the final mission against yet another Belkan attempt at revenge]].

** Among the new weapons in ''Ace Combat 7'' are the 4-Target Air-to-Air Missile (4AAM), which is similar to the old XMAA, the 6-Target Air-to-Air Missile (6AAM), the ''8-Target'' Air-to-Air Missile (8AAM), and the 8AAM's anti-ground counterpart, the 8-Target Air-to-Ground Missile (8AGM). Following up an 8AAM or 8AGM launch with firing off the two standard missiles would allow the player to send 10 missiles foe-wards inside of a second. Additionally, there is the returning Rocket Launcher Pod, here abbreviated to RKT, which rapidly fires off a large volley of unguided rockets, and it's more advanced version the GRKT, which fires a rapid volley of ''homing'' rockets.

** Taken [[UpToEleven Up To Twelve]] with the reintroduction of the CFA-44 Nosferatu and its All Directional Multi-Purpose Missile (ADMM) sub-weapon. Unleashing a salvo of of 12 rounds can result in the very fast destruction of your targets.

** Unlike the above Greek theme, the Erusean super submarine ''[[MeaningfulName Alicorn]]'' is Latin for the horn of the unicorn - keeping up with the mytholocal horse ThemeNaming adapted by its predecessors ''Scinfaxi'' and ''Hrimfaxi'' [[labelnote:Explanation]] adapted from ''Skinfaxi'' and ''Hrimfaxi'', the horses of Dagr and Nótt, the personifications of Day and Night in Norse mythology.[[/labelnote]] This becomes even more meaningful when the ''Alicorn'' [[spoiler:reveals its massive rail cannon that makes up part of the runway, which is raised upward from its hull, protuding into the sky just like a unicorn's horn: an ''alicorn''.]]

* ShownTheirWork: Apart from the usual highly detailed and accurate plane exteriors and cockpit views, the developers took the extra step of making sure each plane had accurate gun mechanics; Russian based planes like the Su-35 and MiG-29A have single-barrel autocannons which fire slower with a lower ammunition capacity of 800 rounds but hit hard while European/US planes like the Typhoon, F/A-18F and A-10C have rapid-firing multi-barrel rotary cannons with higher ammunition limits of 2400. The A-10C also has an ever more powerful cannon on top of that with 4800 rounds of ammunition, referencing its iconic GAU-8 Avenger cannon.

* UnusableEnemyEquipment: The enemy has only a few planes that you can't fly yourself: The AV-8B Harrier and the F-117 Nighthawk in particular. (There's also the game's super-plane, [[spoiler:the ADF-11 Raven]], but unsurprisingly it is available as paid DLC.) You also can't fly any of the enemy bombers like the Tu-95, as is tradition with an ''Ace Combat'' game.

** The 600mm main railgun on the ''Alicorn'' has a pair of bare rails that are normally closed together and lay flat as part of the flight deck until the weapon is brought online, when they open up into a faimilar tuning-fork shape.

** Count shoots down [[spoiler:Full Band]] due to his IFF designating him as an enemy after Erusean drones spoof Osean IFF signals and, on suggestion from the rest of the group, hastily redesignates everyone not formed up on Trigger as hostile. [[spoiler:It's implied that Bandog did this on purpose (Count certainly believes so).]]

* AccidentalMurder: Trigger is accused of shooting down [[spoiler:Harling]]'s plane while going after some drones which were harassing him, which gets him sent to a penal squadron. [[spoiler: However, it's later revealed that Trigger ''didn't'' fire the missile which killed Harling. Unbeknownst everyone at the time, Erusea had gained the ability to hack into the Osean satellite-based IFF systems, allowing them to make their drones appear on radar as Osean allied fighters. One of said disguised drones was deployed into the battle around the Space Elevator and managed to shoot down Harling before making its retreat, leaving Trigger (the allied unit in closest proximity to Harling at the time the drone took its shot) to take the fall.]]
** Count shoots down [[spoiler: Full Band]] due to his IFF designating him as an enemy. [[spoiler: It's implied that Bandog did this on purpose.]]

''Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown'' is the twelfth [[note]]thirtheenth if you count ''VideoGame/AceCombatAssaultHorizonLegacy'' as separate from ''VideoGame/AceCombat2''[[/note]] (eighteenth overall) game in the ''VideoGame/AceCombat'' series that's set in [[ConstructedWorld Strangereal]]. The first numbered title in more than a decade since 2007's ''Ace Combat 6'', ''Ace Combat 7'' is the first game of the series to feature [=PlayStation=] VR, with a noted focus on the use of volumetric clouds as a gameplay mechanic.

Three years have passed since [[VideoGame/AceCombat6FiresOfLiberation the last major continental war]] and now the Kingdom of Erusea, [[VideoGame/AceCombat04ShatteredSkies formerly the Federal Republic of Erusea]], has come into conflict with the Osean Federation. Princess Rosa Cossette D'Elise claims that Osea has violated her kingdom's sovereignty by forcing the construction of their SpaceElevator on their territory, and has declared war in retaliation. You take on the role of Mage 2, codename Trigger. After a mission goes wrong, Trigger finds himself being thrown into the 444th Fighter Squadron-- the Spare Squadron-- composed of other prisoners. He must work off his crimes while keeping Osea safe. The game is set between May and November 2019 of the Strangereal calendar, taking place a year before the [[VideoGame/AceCombatXSkiesOfDeception Leasath-Aurelia war]] in October 2020.

** Avril Mead, the Scrap Queen, is the star of the opening CutScene. A WrenchWench, she restores a mothballed F-104 Starfighter and takes to the skies. The realistic outcome backfires when she's tagged as a bogey, shot down by Osean fighters (her own side), and then jailed. However, this leads to her helping run the 444 Air Base and keep its planes flying. After Trigger and Count are transferred out, the jailers and jailed band together and make a run for it; she ends up on Tyler Island, where she links up with Trigger again. Thereafter she sails to the ISEV and helps mastermind the EnemyMine coalition of Osean defenders and Erusean Conservatives.

*** Mission 9, "Faceless Soldier", during third checkpoint, complete with (not-so) OminousLatinChanting to signal Spare Squadron's solidarity in the face of destruction.

*** Mission 9, "Faceless Soldier", during third checkpoint, complete with OminousLatinChanting to signal Spare Squadron's solidarity in the face of destruction.

* ''Film/TopGunMaverick'' Aircraft set -- Released on May 26, 2022 as a tie-in with the film. Adds the F-14A Tomcat and F/A-18E Super Hornet with movie variants, the film's "5th gen fighter", and the [=DarkStar=] experimental aircraft along with more skins, emblems, and nicknames.

* [[''Film/TopGunMaverick'' Aircraft set]] -- Released on May 26, 2022 as a tie-in with the film. Adds the F-14A Tomcat and F/A-18E Super Hornet with movie variants, the film's "5th gen fighter", and the [=DarkStar=] experimental aircraft along with more skins, emblems, and nicknames.