I’ve been a fan of the Ace Combat series since AC4 on the PlayStation 2. I have vivid memories of grinding it out to get the next cool skin for my planes in ACZero, and rescuing Nagase from the frozen level. If you asked me about any on the characters in AC7, I wouldn’t be able to tell you about any of them. The gameplay it’s self is visually stunning and the weather effects were a great touch. However it is you and only against every target, your wing man (whoever they are) does not do anything. Which takes away from the experience in my opinion.
I understand the time and effort it takes to make games at this scale. So I’m not discrediting any of the people who worked on this game. But for me, it wasn’t the best step forward for the Ace Combat legacy in terms of story.