To all my new and returning viewers: let me know if you prefer longer-form content like this, where I get a little more detailed and show full cut scenes along with more bits of un-narrated gameplay.

I felt that this struck a nice balance, but it still ended up being quite lengthy.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks!

That last battle with Pixy I swear was pure art. The music, the dialog. I was yelling at my TV ''Damnit Pixy don't make me kill you!'' Great game. The whole PS2 franchise was amazing

These 3 games are just the burning horse drawing meme, but they're all drawn by true Aces

And now it's coming back as a preorder bonus for Ace Combat 8 🎉🎉🎉

Belka probably has the record for the most amount of friendly kills

In the final battle with Pixy, Eagle Eye has no idea that it is Pixy you are fighting. Eagle Eye only refers to Pixy by the plane name Morgan. Meaning, that what Pixy said to Cipher, is between Pixy and Cipher. I can only imagine what Cipher's responses to Pixy would be based on your Ace Style at the time. There is a lot of backroom lore about the Belkan War that people should look up. AC:Z is the Cipher of the Ace Combat series, though Ace Combat 1 takes place during this conflict.

And just a bit of trivia Larry Foulke is voiced by Yuri Lowenthal, who voiced Saskue Uchida in the Naruto series.

Yes. It is the perfect mix of 4's grounded writing and 5's theatrics. You should play 5 btw. Zero is a direct prequel to it.

Zero is the peak of the franchise for me, it’s the best example of why I love Ace Combat so much

Even though the game gets a bit silly and dramatic sometimes, I really feel like the anti-war themes of this game just rings more true as time passes.

Zero is without a doubt my number one favorite Ace Combat ever.

Very excited to play this game again since Zero’s coming as a preorder bonus for AC8! Can’t even decide what game I want to play first!

Yes, the answer is yes. Played all AC games 4 and after even the psp / gba stuff. Zero is far and away the best. The storyline is gripping, the gameplay is flawless, the music is incredible

I never finished this and 5 as a kid. I always thought these as a fun jet game from my childhood.
I finished 5 in 2021 and have been my favorite since, until late 2025 where i properly finished Zero for the first time.

Even after my 2nd playthrough through the PC Port, Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War remains to be my favorite video game of all time.
This game is a beautifully crafted piece of art, because it is essentially a symbolic dance performance in a symbolic opera stage up in the sky.
It explores themes of anti-war, ideology of war, loyalty, and the concept of nations as human creations. Not to mention the artistic choice of using Flamenco and castanets for the soundtracks really hammers the point of this game being entirely artistic expression.

I love this game to death, it changed my life. This game allowed me to truly see video games as an art form, not just merely recognizing it.

Pixy also has cut dialog for hoffnung where he pretty much experiences a PTSD attack. it makes his actions a little bit more nuanced in the next mission.

Don't even need to watch. This game is peak videogame art. A documentary you play. Exquisite production. Amazing moments.

My first fight against Pixy was pretty much unforgettable. I was still riding the high of beating the trench run, and then PJ started his whole celebration. I felt good for the kid, as he obviously had a tough time in his previous team, not being taken seriously.
But then something started to worry me: Where was Pixy?
And then it hit me. Or, more accurately, it hit PJ.
The unbridled rage I felt at PJs death, alongside the betrayal I felt towards Pixy pretty much carried me through the fight. I would not stop until I brought that bastard down.
I was pretty much roleplaying as a Knight the entire playthrough, so in my mind I felt as if I had to strip Pixy of his wings. He didn’t deserve them anymore. He was a danger and must be brought down for both my honor and the honor of my fallen comrade. Of course I still felt a tinge of guilt and sadness for my once friend, now turned enemy, but that was put aside the moment he first drew blood.
The relief I felt when I finally brought his plane down is a feeling I have hardly gotten from any game since.

I still remember the sound of flamenco spanish guitar

This is not only the best Ace Combat game. This is one of the greatest game of all time. For the story, the menaning, the soundtrack, the production. Ace Combat Zero - the Belkan War is a truly masterpiece.

A lot of people criticised that you destroy Excalibur the next mission after it's revealed, but I think that's just good story telling.
They've just exposed their anti-missile defence system as a devastating offensive weapon. That makes it a priority target, and one that isn't easily defendable. So it just shows that Belka was getting desperate, and as the story goes on it's because they had good reason to be.

"...I can only imagine the feelings and emotions it must invoke for those who played this oh so many years ago."

"Tears." Tears is your answer. Come back in more than a decade. Every interview, not just the last one; the respect of the Knights, the fear of the Mercs, every one made me grit my teeth. The climax of "Zero" coming in as the Morgan report comes in, makes me lost in the past, the first time. The impact of the chorus of "The Unsung War" coming in; fresh, yet nostalgic from 5's release almost two years prior. This is a form of art so compounded; music, atmosphere, acting, narrative, and nostalgia, that it is so hard to replicate that I struggle to articulate it. The closest thing I can point to that's more commonly known is when "Vigil" from Mass Effect 1 is used later, but even then, as appropriate as each use is, they use it more often, maybe too often. "Zero" is a masterpiece, both song and game.

Nothing will ever get me to tear up faster than hearing that acoustic guitar near the end followed by: "yo buddy, still alive? And thanks friend... See you again." Pixy you magnificent bastard.