Ace Combat Zero Analysis (Part 1): Nationalism and its Alternatives | Gitai

[@volkovable]

If you've seen Downfall, Hitler in the movie becomes practically dismissive of Germany and Germans as people unwilling and unworthy of being saved, and becomes desperate to find solutions to protect his vision for his Reich with phantom armies and absurd gambles. I feel like, as insane as the seven nukes being dropped is in game, its of a similar vein: the Belkans, driven by an ideology of nationalism and superiority, find out they aren't so great after all, and after that, why weigh the lives of a few thousand mountain dwellers over a chance to protect what's left?

[@valder8423]

41:45 idk soldier path aces were professionals doing their jobs. Schnee 1 dream and goal was to fly and he was declining promotions which would take him away from pilot seat. And after the war he is the only ace who still gets to fly. Soldier style is mostly about using a strategic advantage while restraining yourself from wanton destruction. But that is overall my favorite route.

[@jocax188723]

'Knightmare of the Round Table' blew my mind. That's my headcanon, now. Most excellent work.

[@wun1gee]

The thing you have to remember about everything the game tells you about Belka is that it's from the opposing side. There's a lot of official and canon media that paints a different picture and shows Osea and it's allies to be the aggressor nations against a economically-damaged Belka. Even Belka's cardinal sin - the detonating of nukes on their own territory - is misrepresented by the narrative of both Zero and 5, but is made clear in other media. I think that was the biggest kick in the teeth for me after all these years. To know that the game actively subverted me into thinking I was the good guy the entire time but I was really playing for the aggressor nation and in a lot of ways, Belka did nothing wrong...

[@bigbernard7325]

This is a really indepth analysis of Zero which is a rarity considering there isn't much analysis of it's themes and overall story, just reviews of the game. One thing about Zero coming after 5 is that it makes Strangereal's tolerance of the Belkans all the more confusing. In Zero, they invaded neighboring countries and detonated multiple nukes, comitting a nuclear holocaust. Then in 5, they managed to subvert 2 countries governments to cause a full scale war against two allies. At this point, Belkans should basically be genocided on sight by Oseans and Yuktobanians. At this point, the anti-war message the series has been embedded in the game since 4 becomes muddled with the inclusion of Belkans being a main antagonist which is unquestionably evil to drive future conflict, even in 7 with Dr. Schroder and his AI drone program to escalate the war by assaasinating former president Harling. I hope the future titles move away Belkans being behind everything and go back to a more personal conflict like 4 did. All in all, this is an excellent video!

[@GizouGitai]

7 was a curveball because cut dialogue was going to portray more of the Belkans as repentant. In the end, only Dr. Schroeder showed remorse in his own actions. Another idea left out that you'd only read in supplementary material is that Pixy is a Belkan, who puts himself at odds with Belka. The issue 7 portrays is that Belka is now an idea. A country with that strong of a national identity doesn't just crumble. The influence on this is likely from some of Japan's stronger opponents of its American occupation, and troubles surrounding Pro-Japan terrorists. You also see these themes heavily in Anime like Code Geass.

[@villager01x12]

This. Ace Combat 7 story should have been about Eruesa declares war on Nordlands, while Wielvakia declares war on Eruesa. AC7's story would have been more sense. Never let Sunao Katabuchi write Ace Combat.

[@thatguy1165]

Small nit picky detail, if you unlock the xo2 after the first mission it’s because you have ace combat 4 save data on your memory card. Without this data it takes a couple play throughs to unlock. So your analysis of it being a designer’s choice to entice people to adopt a more “mercenary” approach isn’t entirely accurate, but more of a legacy throwback. That being said, it does hold SOME water as more powerful planes do become available through the previously mentioned style due to obtaining more credits than someone who is going for the “knight” style

[@thatguy1165]

21:20 for perspective, to develop a fighter jet, it costs billions. To actually manufacture one, it’s only millions. You can buy IRL an SU-27 for around 5million dollars, and the cost of an F-22 is roughly 150million. War is cheap when scaled up to that of 1st world countries constantly going to war.

[@Deathvalleyherper]

The wyvern unlocks if you have a save file for ac5 as well.

[@danielmolinar8669]

The bit about planes being sold by the masses is kinda funny since it also seems in the Ace Combat Universe, that ANYONE can be a fighter pilot. Chief Engineer, 👍. A military officer with little to no combat experience and shady connections, 👍. Criminals known for distrust in their own government, 👍. Are there any qualifications to fly in Strangereal at all? Just a disk?

[@merylcruz3820]

This is the video series I've been waiting for. Your AC4 video was phenomenal and I've been wanting to see an in-depth analysis of Zero ever since I finished it. I look forward to seeing you go further.

[@Ikcatcher]

Zero is my favorite Ace Combat game in the entire franchise because I honestly felt it perfectly tied everything I love about the series into one neat nuclear fueled box

[@beefstroganoff3297]

This is content I would expect from a 100k+ channel

[@GizouGitai]

Shoulda been a PNGtuber

[@gorogorogoro-chan]

I'm so fucking upset i just foud out about this video now. Your writing is amazing man

[@madmalkavian3857]

So definitely ran straight for excalibur on normal difficulty. Basically Pixy and AWACS start yelling at you to bomb the things you were supposed to and stop flying straight towards the giant mega lazer. Though you cant technically destroy it without taking out the power supplies first. You can destroy the lazer first though, then the power generator, then excalibur. You just have to be able to aim the missile with your eyes.

[@Deathvalleyherper]

I used to fly Excalibur with the mig29 and XAGM. Wipe out the jammers with the gun, go to the mail area Get a lock on the laser aperture and wipe it out with 4 XAGM. Excalibur itself rendered no longer a threat you can start chipping away at the rest of the facility.

[@cac_deadlyrang]

27:26 I personally see Cipher’s painted wingtips being like Captain Rex’s jaig eyes. A combat honor.

[@Eruidraith]

this was a pretty great analysis--I truly believe these kind of games are ripe for close readings and im happy to see somebody doing it!

[@rikotheman2629]

I believe green targets also play a role in determining your ace style.

[@moneygreen932]

Man games were so well made and deep back in the day in the stories they told. Hearing your thoughts on this game really makes me curious about what you'd think about Spec Ops: The Line and it's story.

[@GizouGitai]

You wouldn't get many original thoughts out of me on that one. Game is well documented. For its intent as an adaption of heart of darkness for the '10s videogame scene.

[@moneygreen932]

@@GizouGitai Oh I wasn't expecting to given that it's been such a widely covered game that's been out for awhile, but it's always WHAT is said that's intriguing or exciting but rather HOW it's said. Given the way you break down the complexity of this game and the game before, along with the complexity of the characters, things going on, symbols, and deeper meanings to things it just seems like that's tailor made for your deep breakdown kinda style given the weight of the subject matter. Though that's only my opinion and it may be interesting to me because I only just found out about that game not too long ago like I have with these ones. I understand where you're coming from though and the biggest things about these videos seem to be your passion for the subject matter which has driven the research and everything that has gone into these. Just a passing thought tho I would be very interested (even if it was privately) to get your personal take on that game given what I've heard (or rather HOW I've heard) you breakdown these.

[@ROBOHOLIC1]

Definitely keeping an eye out for any future uploads.

[@mikedude2724]

Holy fuck man, this duology of videos of yours are so well-made. Your video on AC04 opened my eyes and made me realize how much substance the game really has. You did that again with AC0, and you make me want a remaster of the PS2 trilogy for modern platforms. Also, are you going to give AC5 the same treatment one day? I'm wondering if there's anything I missed on that game. Cheers dude, and have a good day!

[@GizouGitai]

I'm wondering if there's anything I missed on that game as well. I don't know what I can bring to the table. It was good but I wasn't infatuated with it.

[@acn1813]

Your voice is amazing

[@GizouGitai]

Thank you for the complement.

[@nomad6956]

Welp this video is underrated, now i just need to play ace combat

[@volkovable]

Love this, all of it

[@BarackObamerHimselfEXCLUSIVE]

Ah yes the legend of the Blue Balls Demon of the Round Table

[@Aerotrain301]

This was a great video man, why haven't you done this for AC5?

[@GizouGitai]

I should make this an FAQ. I played it. And I liked it. But it didn't touch me in a way that this game did, it didn't have themes as rich and gritty. If anyone can tell me what they see in it, that I don't right now, maybe my mind would start running through it like it does 4 and 0.

[@axel665]

Bellka did nothing wrong

[@azazel166]

I will say this only once to Belkans, Eruseans and Estovakians: Tone down the nationalism or I'll decimate all three of you with a mere fighter jet again.

[@jdools4744]

You sound like a loser

[@komyetaone1171]

Fact: Ustio is Austria-Switzerland

[@Caio4576]

I hope someday in the future you make more ace combat videos in the future, like ac 7 about singularities or some stuff

[@GizouGitai]

Can you explain what you mean by Singularities.

[@Caio4576]

@@GizouGitai there's a lot of people that can explain better than me so I'm gonna paste this text of user reddit Mr. North uses the term singularity within the context of dynamical systems. A mathematical field, a singularity is a point that determines the behavior of the points around it. (Within the field and related areas, singularities may be called attractors, nodes, fixed/periodic points, sinks/sources/saddle points/centers.) Since Mr. North is a systems analyst who uses predictive models, it is all too natural for him to use the term singularity. When creating a prediction based on a system model, only two things matter: the singularities of the system and where we start. Singularities completely control the outcomes of their systems. We only care about the starting point because it determines which singularity we will be governed by. When two singularities compete for a single space, different areas of space will fall into one or the other singularity's influence. On the boundary, there may be rather erratic and unpredictable behavior. In this case, mission completion and the fate of individual pilots, Oured, etc. are near the boundary. Since we can't be totally sure which side of the boundary each item will actually fall, we cannot predict their ultimate fate. Mission success means enough key points fall into Trigger's region, while failure is the same but with Torres. If Trigger is the only singularity, Osean victory is guaranteed. If Torres is the only singularity, he will win. The difficulty is in their interaction and, since Alex didn't have much data to study how the two singularities would interact while in the same space, it's only natural for the AI to deny the request. Now, through most of DLC missions 1-3, the term could be replaced with any phrase meaning [something influential]. However, Alex's justification for keeping Trigger alive points directly to Trigger's effect on battlefields, which are dreadfully complicated systems (and, if Trigger weren't a supernatural pilot with even more supernatural weapons carrying capacity, filled with countless and unknown singularities). Despite all the competing influences in Trigger's battles, he always increases survival rate. Nothing short of a singularity is that consistent. Beyond Alex, at the very end of mission 3, Mr. North speaks in strongly dynamical terms: Torres brought those in his orbit to destruction, while Trigger brings those around him into security (which Alex emphasizes: Stick with trigger, and you'll make it). Singularities don't just influence those around them, singularities determine their fate. User name:Octagon sun Oseans was afraid that Trigger might go rogue like Torres.

[@GizouGitai]

​@@Caio4576 I thought that might be it. It's an interesting perspective, *academically* certainly, and ACE04 wasn't a stranger to alluding to mathematical theories in its narrative to induce other themes around modernisation. My question is, what does this tell us about the world or the characters of ACE7? What does it tell us morally, or in relation to ACE7's questions about the philosophy of Nations or the encroaching digital apocalypse of ACE3? I'm interested to know if there is a way to link them.

[@Caio4576]

@@GizouGitai Mihaly one said “What is a nation? Can we actually see the physical lines that divide one from another?” So what separate people from another country if there’s no and physical borders? Cultures? Ideology? Different ideas ? Political? After the satellites were destroy most of the countries of Usea that was annexed by erusea found a opportunity to start an uprising and proclaimed the countries which ones was theirs. And the final part of the Osean and Erusea put aside there differences and join forces to fight a common enemy. Ac5 did that to Soldiers and each countries does know why are they fighting and question about their leaders, because two of them are peaceful people the prime minister and the president, so why start a war with no reason out of nowhere? Maybe the new Ace combat may give us a bit of depth of nations and what I know is that Usea in ac3 is ruled by corporations but we don’t if another part of the world is ruled by corporations also

[@vantuz8264]

@@Caio4576 Mihaly said “What is a nation?" to make AC0 fans cream their pants and pre-order AC7. That is all. In the game this plot line is non-existant. "Singularities" is a catchphrase used to increase the strength of the verbal blowjobs towards the current god-ace to celestial levels. Even Nagase was included to make AC5 fans cry like kicked bitches and then write 10/10 reviews. Ace Combat 7 was very well engineered. Not written. Engineered.

[@vantuz8264]

In my opinion, Pixy's face heel turn is poorly written. I can understand that he was saddened by all the destruction and thought there's no just cause in the war. But previously there was no indication that he's capable of such betrayal. Moreover he smack-talked PJ for being idealistic about "stopping bloodshed by shedding more blood". And yet when his "fairy godmother" appeared, he turned around like a supermaneouvreable jet. In addition, Pixy and Cipher had friendly relations. Pixy even admired Cipher as you said. And yet Pixy didn't even try to convince Cipher to join him. Nor he just left. He instantly tried to stab his "buddy" in the back with a missile. And as far as i know nothing changes regardless of your playstyle. So i see this as an inconsistent character. Writers needed the betrayal to happen no matter what and they didn't put enough effort in justifying that. # KeithBestBuddy

[@GizouGitai]

If you accept that the betrayal happens no matter your actions, as valid artistic intent, you can gain more from the game's writing. Humbly, I say you do yourself a disservice.

[@vantuz8264]

@@GizouGitai i have nothing against the betrayal being inevitable but i think 2 things should have been written better: 1) Buildup to that betrayal. Prior to that mission Pixy wasn't angry, he didn't ask if there's another way. He just instantly goes from "i'm sad" to "i'm going to stab my buddy in the back for no reason" 2) Even with foreshadowing Pixy's behaviour would've looked weird. Why would he shoot Cipher instead of trying to recrut him? I mean it would've looked fine if Pixy would shoot mercenary Cipher while saying "you're just as bad as them" . It would show that Pixy didn't like Cipher killing Belkan civilians for profit. In other 2 cases Pixy could've tried to talk to Cipher and convince him to join WWNB but Wizard 1 could deny that by saying "Belkans only. Kill him" Then, depending if it's a soldier or knight route, Pixy could start shooting or refuse and just leave. As you can see, the betrayal is still inevitable and nothing else changes in the story. But the moment of betrayal doesn't looks so phoned in at the last second.

[@GizouGitai]

​@@vantuz8264 Pixy's mood change can seem very sudden, yeah. It's only like a 2-3 mission build-up. However I won't concede that his ideals aren't foreshadowed from the earliest radios. His anti-state stance informs his attitude change. It makes the betrayal very predictable and well built up. The war crimes simply pop the bottled tension Pixy holds.

[@vantuz8264]

@@GizouGitai please remind me: how exactly Pixy's anti-state stance has been foreshadowed? I don't recall it being "i'm going to nuke the whole world" strong. And it still doesn't explain why he instantly decided to shoot Cipher. His so called "buddy" Also, have you played full japanese/Project Nemo version of Ace Combat 3?

[@yoshisuperficial8546]

You just need remember that Pixy quote

[@MrTheTaterMeister]

These games wouldn't look so pixelated if you used the direct x 11 renderer on the emulator you're probably using.

[@GizouGitai]

Upscaling exxagerates the concessions of the time. UI and environment maps are great at native Res. All I did was patch it for progressive scan. Call me a dumbass but art is art. It's appreciable in its own context.

[@MrTheTaterMeister]

@@GizouGitai no I get you my bad. Great video though.

[@AmelpsXett]

13:25 that was disgusting, retake the shot next time

[@GizouGitai]

No lmao

[@Chick2106]

I didn't see anything wrong in this scene?

[@AmelpsXett]

@@Chick2106 "on the maPppfff *spit all over the screen* "

[@Chick2106]

@@AmelpsXett Agh... goddamn it how are we supposed to see it now.

[@AmelpsXett]

@@Chick2106 exactly

[@jdools4744]

Good lord this was stupid

[@GizouGitai]

Why?