Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown – Nintendo Switch Review!

Finally, after waiting over five years, Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, has finally come all the way to Nintendo Switch. A game series that I have been so insanely passionate about since I first played Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere, as a demo from ye olde Playstation monthly magazines, way back in my single digit years. A game that has fostered my love for fighter jets and cheesy one liners that would rival that of Top Gun movies.

I nearly fell out of my chair when it was announced via the fan group I’m a member of in Discord that it was coming to Switch. We haven’t had a portable version of an Ace Combat game since Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception back on the Playstation Portable (PSP). And I thoroughly enjoyed that game, it managed to still retain that Ace Combat spirit despite the limited abilities of handheld consoles back in those days. So it’s fair to say I was frothing at the mouth to get my hands on the portable release of Ace Combat 7! How well does it stack up? Read on to find out!

Since the game has already been covered on it’s initial PS4 release by one of our writers, I’m not going to delve into gameplay like I normally would. Instead, I’m choosing to cover how it plays on the Nintendo Switch system, for a full review experience, please go check out the initial review here!

Gameplay

First and foremost, I have to commend the team for managing to port the game over to Nintendo Switch without changing much, if anything about how the game plays. The controls are exactly as they are on the PS4/PS5 consoles, so veteran players who just want a “go anywhere” version of the game or new players going from the Switch version to the Playstation or Steam versions, do not need to learn a whole new control scheme just to play the game.

A faithful port of a true masterpiece. The game may not be for everyone, but it is for every Ace Combat fan.

It also runs incredibly smoothly on the Switch, clearly the team behind the port knew exactly what they were doing and optimised the gameplay for smooth, seamless play. It did however lose a few frames at times when particles became particularly intense. For example, there was a moment where I fired off more than 4 missiles in short succession, the game lost a few frames here, but nothing so bad that it impacted my experience. For measure, I was playing on the upgraded OLED switch, this might have a larger drop in quality if you’re using a baseline model switch. Overall though, it played incredibly well and should be a baseline aim for all major ports to the Switch in future.

If there is one major flaw, it lies not with the hardware, but with the game itself. It is very clear for anyone playing this game that it almost entirely caters to fans of the series. From elements of the story requiring prior game knowledge to the gameplay itself favouring those who know how to exploit the mechanics of each engagement. To outsiders, dogfighting might seem like a “select, lock, fire, done” type of game, a “fire and forget” style of gameplay if you want to call it by another name. But to veterans, we know that this style of play simply wastes your unrealistic missile count. And as you increase the difficulty, this style of play ends up very detrimental as your ammo is severely limited on the higher modes. Including your gun ammunition, which is infinite at normal and below. It’s all about approach vectors and lining up your shots perfectly so that they almost never miss.

The same applies to the opposite, defense. Dodging at just the right moment to avoid a hit, using flares sparingly or as a last resort. These are tricks of the trade that only veterans of the series might know, or those who’ve played similar games. Much like knowing what special weapons to take for each mission or how to get the most out of them. Like flying upside down so that Air-to-Air special missiles fire immediately instead of a short delay when firing from a normal position. This may put some people off the game, but I assure you these tricks are quick and easy to learn and very satisfying to master.

Graphics

I know it’s not very nice to compare the game to it’s console and PC brethren, but one does not give an unbiased review without at least a passing mention of it. It will never compare to a true console or PC version, the hardware is simply in different leagues entirely. That being said, play the game in handheld mode and you’ll hardly notice any lasting difference. The game is simply gorgeous no matter what format you play on and the team did an amazing job preserving all the core aspects of the design. Cutscenes look crisp and clear, gameplay is snappy and responsive and the best part is that replays are a wonderful source of screenshots for this review. The fact you can see all angles of the many aircraft you can fly, as they carve the skies and send their foes splintering to the ground below from a barrage of missiles and gunfire. Is both beautiful and terrifying.

Audio

The same can be said for the audio, whether you’re listening via the on board speakers or using a nice set of headphones. The audio is on a whole other level. The music, of which the OST is already worthy of listening to in and out of gameplay, is just such a pleasure to listen to. Especially a few noted tracks at the height of the campaign, the music is a pivotal part of this game, as it has always been amongst all entries in the franchise. It is as mighty in the port as it was in the original, proud to say it did not disappoint.

Likewise for the voice acting, whilst my first playthrough of the original version I played with English voices. I elected to try things a little differently with the Switch port and use the Japanese voices. While the latter did not have the same cheesy flair as the English voices, I can say they did a bang up job with the more serious tones in the games’ story. The lines spoken about the effects of the war on the peoples of each side, the exhaustion, the devastation and loss, these lines were delivered in such a manner you could feel the weight of their voices. Definitely a stronger performance than of the English voice cast, but where they failed, is the goofy one liners. The banter between the 444 Squadron of convicts, even between the LRSSG. There’s a line delivered in one of the missions during the second half of the game. “Platform purge confirmed, you just put the meat between those buns and that burger is well done.” This line is such a perfect line, but loses its comedic value with the seriousness of the Japanese voice cast. It’s not a huge loss, as there are major gains in the other areas, but as Ace Combat primarily markets itself as a more arcadey style of flight sim, it does lack the punch.

Final Thoughts?

For those looking for a portable arcade flight game, you can do no wrong with Ace Combat 7. Though you might struggle with the story a little bit without prior knowledge, the game is still an excellent addition to the relatively lacking in numbers space that is flight arcade/sim games. Though I personally wouldn’t pay full price for the game, as it is essentially a port and therefore is of lesser overall quality compared to it’s console and PC siblings. Though I’m a frugal spender and almost never pay full price for games these days unless they are ones that I am insanely passionate about.

I was not able to dabble in the multiplayer as that requires a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, but the multiplayer was reviewed in the original review and is likely exactly the same here too. There’s nothing to fault this game for, it’s a true, 100% completely accurate port with no changes or fixes as there was nothing needed in the original. If you have not played the game but have always been interested, I highly recommend it, because now you can take your time and play it anywhere you like!

Game Details

Game Genre – Arcade, Flight Simulation
Label – Bandai Namco
Rating – General
Year of Release – 2019
Engine–  Unreal Engine 4
Platforms – PS4, Xbox One, PC
Mode(s) of Play – Single, Multiplayer

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