Cipher is a mercenary before the Nukes. Soldier after the Nukes and before Avalon. Knight when you face Pixy. Cipher is all three. Making him a Demon Lord and a true Ace.
make sense Compare to ace style progress and Razgriz poems, at first he was a Demon lord who seek power from battle, then he became a soldier who want to did it right, and at last he is rising up as a hero who end the war.
I always like to think that Cipher was a knight when he entered the war wanting to protect the innocent people....but money and power blinded him so he changes from mission 5 till 9 in order to reach mission 10 as a mercenary. This act also makes Pixy starting to lose his trust in Cipher and starting to believe that humanity has no hope since such a honorable pilot was able to be corrupted especially after the fiasco at mission 11 Pixy thinks he had enough from both his allies and Cipher and decided it all has to end....then at mission 12 where the nuclear bombs drop and Pixy defects, Cipher is in shock that his wingman left him and such a tragedy occured that he finally understands that the path he has chosen is wrong and changes again....not becoming the pilot he once was fighting for glory and fame but a pilot fighting for this war to finally end. Ending the campaign as a soldier...fighting Graunt 1 with the epic line "let the freedom be justice" and hearing PJ say "We did it The fighting is over" just felt right!
The most memorable thing to me, at least was strafing tanks on anfang as a mercenary, and hearing "Does the demon lord require more souls for his sacrifice?" That stuck with me for a while...
"He was a true ace." Cipher begins as a typical fighter pilot-turned-mercenary. He's not an unstoppable entity yet, but he is definitely talented. "He has potential". Pixy is also way more casual in the beginning as well, kind of signaling that while he does like working with Cipher, he hasn't come to realize and respect the monstrous potential is partner has yet. The mercenaries and friendly fighter pilots all seem more laid back and nonchalant, this is just a job and they're just getting paid. The situation is simple, really bad and powerful nation has started bullying everybody and now we're beating them back. *Soldier Style from Glacial Skies to Liberation* It's from Glatistant onwards things start to get more complicated. Cipher hasn't quite reached his peak notoriety yet, but he's definitely caught most everyone's attention. Enemy combatants aren't paralyzed by fear at the mere mentioning of his name, but he is certainly a force to be reckoned with. Pixy also starts to take things a bit more seriously, especially now that- Rather than just being hired on to even out the odds a little bit, him and Cipher are now straight up being employed to participate (and spearhead) in the full-scale invasion of a formidable world power with nuclear capabilities and a massively boosted and highly trained military, all under the justification of "nuclear inspection" although everyone involved knows its truly just an act of reprisal for Belka's previous unwarranted aggressions. Everyone is a little fed up with Belka, but rather than beating Belka back and then just calling it even, the Allied Forces are basically waging a war of revenge and attrition, fighting fire with fire. Meanwhile, Belka (who started this war out of desperation) is starting to panic and are preparing to start taking extreme measures of self-preservation. Of course, to finish the game you have to continue, but realistically, under the "professional emotionally detached" Soldier style, Cipher probably would've just quit. He did his job, got his hefty check, and the tide of war has turned. What reason would make him want to stay and fight it out further?... Because he wants to. Because, just like the other members of the allied forces and nations, this is now personal. It was a hell of a fight kicking Belka back into their own territories, and they were way to close to winning. No, no, no- Belka wants to play rough? We can play rough. Now its the Allies' turn. *Mercenary Style from Glatistant to Stage of the Apocalypse* As predicted, things got out of hand. Cipher and gang have gone off the rails, shooting down and destroying anything that stands before them. Cipher specifically starts to stand out because not only is this guy the nearly sole reason Belka couldn't take Ustio's skies, but also the reason Belka lost them all together. Still , during the early stages, there were several different theaters all with their own little unique war heroes fighting about. Cipher stood out, sure, but just as much as Pixy, or Wizard Team, or Gelb Team, and so on. Just another Ace, only on the slightly higher end. Now, however, Cipher is constantly miles ahead of all allies in terms of capability and effectiveness, and in turn, he is always right in Belka's face, constantly delivering lethal blows. On top of that, everyone has basically started moving in the same direction, almost streamlining towards North Belka, so every one of Cipher's performances now has a much larger audience, including Belka's best. Not to mention Cipher was responsible for destroying Excalibur, a remarkable achievement unique only to him. The Allies have gotten carried away entirely with this war, and so has Cipher, and Pixy to some extent. Professionalism is out the window, this now about teaching the Belkans a lesson. The Allies are at the peak of their power, victory after victory, and the intend to make the most of this pleasant change. To the Belkans, though, this is an absolute nightmare. Soldiers dying by the thousands, constant destruction of infrastructure, rapid lose of precious resources and territory. It's not until Operation Cannibal that Cipher, Pixy, and a fraction of the Allies' forces, see the situation for what it really is. A disaster. "A collision of powers." With innocent lives being crushed in the middle. Cipher and the Allies are just getting "payback" anymore or taking any sort of "necessary" action. They've become just as unhinged as the Belkans were in the beginning of this war. Cipher and Pixy both start waiver in their hearts. Their ideals begin to crack. In Stage of the Apocalypse, the entire world is shaken at its core. Above everyone though, Cipher and Pixy witness firsthand the results of their actions, furthermore because they're skill and prowess lead them to being by far the most influential factor in the achieving the outcome before them. Pixy attacks Cipher out of resentment for leading him this far into a personal hell, and feels betrayed and manipulated by both Cipher and the Allies in general. Cipher is stunned and caught off guard, but does not take the opportunity to pursue or engage Pixy as he departs. This needs to be the end. Pixy and Cipher both feel that it was conflict that lead them to this crisis in this first place, now, each has a different approach to how prevent from ever making this mistake again, and as soon as the bombs drop, Cipher and Pixy both start to practice their new strategies for insuring peace. Cipher leaves it all behind, realizing that his actions and unchecked dominance over the skies is what really led to the bombs being dropped in the first place. With word of a treaty and agreement, Cipher walks away from the world of combat, feeling as if people for peace can only succeed as long as people of power such as him aren't around to entice power struggles. Who will fight wars if there are no warriors? Pixy, on the other hand, decides to use his power to force change, to crush everyone so that no one can stand back up to fight. "Two sides of the same coin, never facing the same direction." -6 months past- The rest of the game is *Knight style*. Cipher reluctantly returns but only because knowing that deep down he's the only one capable of stopping the oncoming threat. Cipher fights Pixy's close friend and long-time colleague, Bristow "Wizard 1" (Merlin), who is arguably the most revered ace of the Belkan War, behind Cipher and Pixy. Besides a founding member and one of the original designers of AWWNB's principles, Bristow is also the man who convinced Pixy to betray Cipher and the Allies. Cipher has also encountered and even fought alongside Wizard 1 in the past, specifically during Mayhem, so the theme of betrayal and respect rivals is even more prominent in this situation. Bonus, Wizard Squadron uses an advanced aircraft, the fifth-generation YF-23, very fitting of a semi-final boss considering the final boss is a fictional sixth-generation aircraft. Finally, the two former comrades and the two undoubtedly most skilled fighter pilots of the war have finally become knights. Dark and Light, Good and Bad, but both fight bound by a code and their own ideals- It's not about money anymore, and this is far more than just simple "duty". This is for what they believe in, this is for Honor. The two joust in the purple sky until they both merge, strike, and cross one final time. Cipher narrowly avoiding his opponent's blade, however Pixy is struck and falls to the land below in defeat. Having finally ended what he unintentionally started, righted his wrongs, ascended after his descent, and redeemed himself, Cipher lands back home, but takes off again without ever stopping for the landing. There is no reason to return back to his old base, back to the briefing room, the barracks, the hangar, no reason to return to his hired military or comrades. His war is over, he no longer wants a place in it, so he leaves it behind. No paycheck, no medals, just his honor. Tl;dr This is a story of redemption. There is no one way Ace style through and through. Its all 3, but I do believe it's in this order fur these reasons. Thanks for reading!
Cipher is the Progenitor of the Razgriz myth. Your comment matches well with that fairytale, and I always believed that Cipher has been the inspiration of his successors. Mobius 1 took his colors for a time in his F22, Blaze and his squadron took up the mantle to spread 4 wings, The Demon Lord of The Round Table truly did strike fear and admiration, all in a matter of a few active months. I will always fly the F15C to honor him.
Ace Combat Zero is a masterpiece, as Larry says at the beginning of the game "there are three kind of aces, those who seek strength, those who live for pride and those who can reach the tide of a battle". This perfectly means that our character Cipher is an all out fighter that can easily be a mercenary, Knight or soldier style of soldier, he can easily change it's way of facing the foe and his reputation on the field. Again, as Pixy said, he is clearly the true ace, mixing the three kinds and merging them into his own persona.
It has a great foundation laid down by AC5, so they can focus on cinematics, character, story, world building. It always amazes me how much stuff is in old games. Nowadays we got an game engine and that's pretty much it, everything else need to be paid(extra) for.
To get same row Soldier Ace is hard. The story in AC0 make me feel sad, because the narrator is Larry/Pixy he tell for his buddy (Missions 1-12) and his enemy (Missions 13-18), He Tell In 25 November 2005, and he is a good motivation to get a peace in Final Interview, is Larry fouke
Espada 2 has a different description of how her boyfriend dies depending on the ace style. Espada 1 dies no matter what path you take. But she says that he dies in the fight with Cipher while she managed to bail out on mercenary, that he dies in the hospital after limping away from the encounter on soldier and that he survived the battle but then died in the next one he fought because he risked his injuries on knight.
*_I really hope you see this_* Yeah, I can agree with that analysis. Though, it still does seem quite possible that the coming events of AC5 weren't contributed to by Cypher himself. That being said, I do have an opposing point to be made that could prove the canon Mercenary theory otherwise: -- Maybe the ace style difficulty is made in a way to still challenge you in consideration with how much money you make. In terms of the styles themselves, you make the least money as a Knight, a median of money in Soldier, and the most as a Mercenary. So in a Mercenary 1st playthrough, you have the most access to weapons and aircraft, therefore the enemies will need to be harder to combat such access to weapons and aircraft. Also, I must bring up a theory about the relation to the story the game samples from; the Legend of King Arthur. In the legend, Arthur faces off with Morgan in a joust, and kills him, but not before being badly wounded. He is taken to a nearby chapel, where he bids his fellow wards to throw his weapon, Excalibur, into the lake. It's also important to note that one of his men also died of their wounds in that chapel, in his company. He then asks that they take him to the lake, as he bids his goodbye. Arthur is then taken aloft on a ferry, where he shall go to Avalon to rest. Waiting for when the world will need him and Excalibur again. This story leads me to believe that the battle between Cypher and Pixy actually turns out just like that of the original story of King Arthur. In the time of the battle, PJ dies, like Arthur's fellow man in the chapel, and the two opposing characters, Cipher and Pixy, joust to the death, like Arthur and Morgan. In the aftermath, Cypher casts away his weapon at Avalon, stops being a mercenary pilot, and completely disappears, no longer to be seen, and fading into legend. And the final comparison is that the journalist and other pilots contemplate if they will meet Cypher again one day. Just like how it's believed that Arthur will return when Britain needs her hero once more. With that vital piece of lore noted; what is to say that Cypher is actually the King Arthur of Ace Combat, and in fact, a Knight, as the one who pulled the sword Excalibur from the stone, and proved all those who judged him to be dead wrong? That seems pretty solid. It is also EXTREMELY important to note that a cypher is a _secret_ or _disguised_ form of code. It's also the archaic word for the figure 0 (zero). With that said, Cypher could even more literally be the Ace Combat representation of King Arthur. -- Also, on a smaller note complementary to the acting in cutscenes. You could also notice that besides the difference in lines, the demeanor of the characters were also different. Under Mercenary: Their tone and head positioning is lower, and speak almost as if they hated or feared having met you, even Pixy. Soldier: They have a level and respecting demeanor. Like they understand that what had happened was simply war, and don't blame you for doing what you had to, being a soldier. Knight: Their heads are held high, and their vocal tone is notably higher and more positive. They speak as if they are proud and fascinated to have encountered you in their life. And seemingly wouldn't mind meeting again in person.
I somehow figured out that Cipher himself was a reference to King Arthur. You just confirmed it to me xD Thanks. It's amazing how the game references the legend that deeply, even when they barely mention bits of the legend in the game.
Jonathan Flores I always admired Ace Combat story writing for being 'show, don't tell'. It gives you a much deeper emotional connection to the series, and through every epiphany found, you must dig deeper because there isn't just one for anything you encounter. Everything in the series is so well-explained and there is very little that goes without explanation. Even the reason why you can use the Erusian X-02 Wyvern in AC5 is explained by canon.
Bob Namg I wouldn't think that Cipher is making his return at all, and neither would the aces of 5. They had their own eras in which they reigned. A World With No Boundaries was, in fact, destroyed and disbanded. The same was for The Grey Men, as Grabacr and Ofnir were destroyed, as well as the inner circle within Gründer Industries found in the immediate events after the destruction of the SOLG. I also doubt the likeliness of the two organizations actually fighting for dominance against one another. We've left the time of warring countries, and entered the time of warring corporations, beyond the politics of the two organizations altogether. One thing I can say for certain; if 7 is set around 2030, we will _at least_ hear of Ouroboros, the transhumanist terrorist organization, as it was formed around that time. Overall, if AC7 is written correctly, it should drop us into the corporate war era quite nicely.
If AC3 is to be believed despite its ultimately simulated nature, Ouroboros only made itself present in 2040; they may have been established earlier, but it'd be one hell of a conspiracy chain for *anyone* other than sublimated AI Dision and his co-conspirators to know anything about the establishment, let alone the Oseans or Eruseans. (then again, if Simon knew enough about Ouroboros to link Dision, Sphyrna, Night Raven etc. to it, before they even started doing anything noteworthy...) Speaking of Eruseans, Usea was under corporate rule by the 2030's, meaning Erusea wouldn't even be present by time Ouroboros was born. EAF emblems decorate the aircraft seen in numerous trailers so far. Unless Ouroboros was present before Usean corporate rule overtook the world (which, given it's led by sublimated AI Dision, brought to that position by General Resource, is highly unlikely), it would be utterly impossible to encounter Eruseans if Ouroboros is present. Finally, AC7 is confirmed to be set in the 2020s as confirmed by Siliconera www.siliconera.com/2016/12/06/ace-combat-7-takes-place-10-year-events-ace-combat-5/ and possibly in 2020 (circum-pacific ended on 12/30/2010) itself alongside Aurelia and Leasath's little fight (which started in October 2020).
Derpy 1109 True there. Maybe this would better fill in the gaps of the story. What gets me is the huge technology jump in just those 10 years. You have the weapons of 5, then you get a space elevator, and these insane drones, with the November Stadium flight of the Falken, Adler, Wyvern, and Morgan in between. I do find this early production variant of the COFFIN system and the Erusian drones believable, as evidence of Op. Katina, but there's a lot to be explained.
My headcanon is that Cipher is a Merc through and through, until the fire bombing of Hoffnug. After seeing first hand just how far the Allies were willing to go probably shook Cipher to his core, just like it did for Pixy. The subsequent Belkan self-nuclear strike and betrayal of Pixy drove him to reconsider his outlook on life. From that point on, I think Cipher would slowly follow the Soldier path. By the end of the war (Avalon), I believe that Cipher would have abandoned the Mercenary path for good, which could explain why he disappeared after the war. It also dove tails into another theory I have about Cipher's identity, but that's another story.
@@Komyeta Ace style is not permanent. The more you kill yellow targets, the higher ace meter you will get to the mercenary side and vice versa. Following this theory, Cipher might stay true to the mercenary style until the bombing of Hoffnug. And from that point, the lesser he kills, the lower the ace meter, slowly siding soldier and knight. But with so many kills on the very early missions, it isn't easy to get into the knight style by the end of the campaign. Also, the leader of the Gault squadron is the one who was shown officially dead. Getting to the soldier style by the end of the campaign is possible still.
Personally, I think that all of the mission choices and Ace styles can be considered canonical after a fashion. There is no reason that Pops, Bartlett, and Ashley couldn't be in the Belkan War but simply not encounter Cipher. Furthermore, we already know that the history of the Belkan War is very convoluted. Everyone is a hero and a villain. Everyone is a victim and an aggressor. Therefore, I think that Ace Combat Zero leaves the canonality of its events up to the player to decide for his or her own head canon.
CPU Galva Heart well most people believe this is mostly due to cipher being a merc and this can also be backed up on mission 10 mayhem, why? because bartlett and pops get shot down during the mission which is canon to the real story.
but the thing that questions people is that project aces released ciphers j-35j and its soldier themed not mercenary so this could mean the soldier could have happened. But idk lets just hope project aces makes Ace Combat 7 Great! And AceCombat fan great video keep up the great work!
lol in Lying in Deceit, if you start killing yellow targets, PJ'll say "Galm 1's actions are inhuman... I should be able to do that too." which basically means you're slowly desensitizing him and he sees you as a role model... he literally acknowledges how immoral and money hungry you get from destroying neutral targets and instead of being disgusted he's like "i should do that too!" not like he hits anything though like ever
In my experience, he managed to snatch some kills from me a while ago. I think Pixy/PJ become more agressive as you fill the Pac-Man counter of every plane
YES, YES, YES! Ace Combat Fan you are the youtuber I've been looking for! Ace Combat does not get nearly as much love as it should from the youtube community. It's lore, mechanics, and history deserve to be explored. Please, please keep these videos coming!
Soldier route is canon to me. I don't know about others, but the other routes don't really fit. Mercenary route expects you to be a cold, merciless murderer and yet people, ally and enemy, smile when they think about Cipher...what? Knight style seems to arrogant about all that 'pride and honor' stuff; you don't do justice because it is good, you do it out of 'pride and honor'. I don't think someone known as 'Demon Lord' would be all goody goody and honorable. Soldier seems like the perfect balance point to me.
I mean you do know that the story thematically is basically the King Arthur legend right? Knight is probably canon with Cipher occasionally doing knight and mercenary actions.
Random Person: "Which ace style is canon?" Cipher: "Yes." I think a neat way to look at this is that all three styles are canon at the same time, not because Cipher is a mix of all the skills, but because he is remembered differently by the various pilots. War is a chaotic place, and only Cipher and Pixy truly know where they were in every operation. Some say he shot down Schwartz. Others say he was there tearing the F-14s and A-6 of Schnee apart. Silber claims Galm team fought them. Maybe he did. Maybe he didn't. It's hard to say. Many of them are dead, and it would be embarrassing for the Belkan Knights of the Round Table to be defeated by anyone other than the Demon Lord. Or maybe there is no demon lord. Maybe Cipher is a superstitious moniker. 'ZERO'. There is no demon lord. It's just a rumor shared amongst the fallen aces to keep their pride in tact. That they didn't get rusty, or overconfident. That they were shot down by the most legendary pilot to ever curse the skies of B7R. Only one man knows for certain. His name is Larry 'Solo Wing Pixy' Foulke.
I call that the Razgriz style. Following the myth, being a Mercenary puts you as a Demon, the Soldier style means somewhere the demon dies, and the end, it came back as a hero, thus a Knight style.
From multiple playthroughs, if I recall correctly, there are two similar but slightly different ways to achieve each Ace style. The method mentioned in the video, the treatment of yellow targets, is correct. Using this method, Soldier does have a median potential income, as one commenter noted. This is assuming all styles rely on getting S ranks for max income. However, I believe the Ace style description for Soldier tends to favor quick completion. While Knight and Mercenary styles rely much more on the treatment of yellow targets, I've noticed shooting down only targets and ignoring greens and yellows tends to favor the Soldier style in game. As soon as you start killing greens, your gauge starts sliding to the Knight end. I think the developer logic is that at that point, you're intentionally going out of your way to avoid yellows, making you a Knight player. With this observation in mind, Soldier has the potentially lowest income in game should you play with the principles of each Ace Style in mind.
I have to say the ace style ''soldier'' are canon too because in ace combat 6, in the mission 9, you face ''Feniks'' who is actually Lorenz Riedel (the Gault 7 from mission 16). He has defected for Estovakia and helped in the development of the P-1112 ''Aigaion''.
Personally, I strongly believe that the the "canonical" squadrons fought by Cipher are, in order, Rot, Schwartze, and Gault. 1. Rot, because Fleisher sounded like the most fleshed out of the three, and also because what he mentions during the interview fits the whole plot's narrative perfectly (him saying how "a nation is comprised of the individuals who live in its borders, it can only become a nation when it is supported by those individuals."). 2. Schwartze, obviously due to the presence and involvement of Pops, Bartlett and Grabacr from AC5 in the fight, and the happening perfectly mirroring what is mentioned by those characters in the previous game to have happened, as such being inevitably tied to the event. 3. Gault, since it's the one that makes the most logical sense in the narrative, being Kupchenko the (likely) mastermind behind AWWNB (and so, instead of fighting mere lieutenants, Cipher has to face off against its very own "head director", who as we know had a thing for involving himself directly and personally with the fighting), and him being rarely ever mentioned or seen out of his and his team's "boss battle" and the resulting cutscenes (something that would be extremely weird to say the least, considered his crucial role in the plot, but which could easily be made sense of if his battle was to be considered canonical, as such allowing a slightly larger presence of his in the story).
@AISUYU For as much as I'd have loved as well to see and hear much more of his charismatic character, I think that sadly it wouldn't have fit much the narrative for him to be a final boss. This because AC Zero is obviously based on the whole Arthurian mythos, and while Pixy represented King Arthur, Kupchenko represented Merlin instead, the "guardian" and "personal advisor/assistant" of the king. As a result, it was inevitable that he would have had to cover more of a "side" role, rather than being under the spotlight. This, plus also the whole build-up to it all done throughout the plot, as making the final boss a guy that you never seen or heard of until the very last missions may have felt disappointing and awkward. However, while it may have not been (in my opinion) a fitting choice as a final boss, again, it certainly would have been an amazing idea to me to see and hear more of him, to get more interactions and expand on his character, lore and more, rather than just leave him as some super-enigmatic dude with very little info provided about him (to the point he wasn't even provided a picture).
To be honest thats a really good question to see it in all angles. also that could make sense since that means Anton (the squad Leader from Gault) didn't dies on and was the responsable for creating the XB-10 from AC2 and finish the "ADF-01" ... similar to Lorenz "Feniks" Riedel (his right hand) who take part with him in the creation of the XB-0 and the Dragonet subs along with the Aigaion.
3:50 this pretty much confirms to me that Avalon dam doesn’t make sense on mercenary, as PJ isn’t the sort of person who would consider money the first order of business after preventing Armageddon. Since Pops shows up in Mission 10, it’s entirely possible for Galm 1 to have changed his tune between then and Avalon. And once again, while both Soldier and Knight styles make sense dialogue wise for PJ in Avalon, Mercenary does not. In particular, the very next mission is the fire bombing of Hoffnung, which would make a PERFECTLY logical turning point for Galm 1 to switch ace styles. I know I’m commenting on a old video, but I don’t know where else I could hope to talk about these things anyway.
Considering that canonically, each member of each enemy squadron was given a backstory after the war, with a fair amount of them being labeled Killed in Action, there's a chance that Cipher encountered and possibly beat down all 9 enemy squadrons over the course of the war. Really does put into context the whole, "first coming of the Razgriz" theme.
I think the mission we players are playing is just like some sort of a reconstruction of the stories told in third person view by the interviews in the attempt of reliving the story of chiper. Its kinda like how i met your mother? where a story can have different point of view. So i think the game part is not an accurate event since they are just stories told by people who witness the "demon lord". different "style" only meant the story was romanticised by the story teller. So in a way id say we are not actually playing as chiper, but as brett, and the story line and the style is a result of the course on how our investigation of the evolves.
It's an interesting theory. I've heard people say that all three ace style paths are canon. I thought to myself, how can that be? All the cutscenes describe a different type of person and account of events. So how could they have all been true at the same time? Your theory may be the answer to that apparent contradiction. Another possibility could be that Cipher changed his Ace Style based on what his mission was and who he was fighting. He adapted his style to match his circumstances. Whichever one of these theories is true, I do believe that all three Ace Style paths are canon. In one of the cutscenes you get in the game, Brett Thompson shows pictures of some of the pilots he interviewed. It shows the commanders of Rot, Grun, Indigo, and Silber. You meet Rot on the Mercenary path, Grun in the Soldier one, Indigo and Silber in the Knight one. So Cipher must have fought in all three paths.
I like to think that Cipher's style changed as the War progressed. He started as a soldier, and became more and more greedy for money until he was a mercenary at Mayhem (preserving the AC5 connection). The next mission is Inferno, and that affects Cipher so that he stops hitting yellow targets, and by the end he becomes a Knight. Where he fights Wizard Squadron (my personal favourite squadron) at B7R and becomes a Hero at Avalon. To me, it adds a nice sort of redemption arc.
I always like to think to myself that that he may have shot everyone down. Yes, mercenary style may have been canon, but wouldn’t it be crazy if there were obscure and unrecorded patrol sorties that Cipher took in between missions which led to him encounter the other aces? If you ask me, that would be a neat addition to Cipher’s history.
In all honesty Pixy describes Cipher as "a true ace" meaning that he wasn't completely a knight in shing armor nor was he a bloodthirsty killer for the most part he was a soldier but he'd dip back and forth between the ace styles cause of the fact he was "a true ace" especially since PJ wasn't there for the money nor was he there to be a hero he was there in hopes of ending the war and Cipher disappearing afterwards seems more like what a tired soldier would do a blood thirsty mercenary wouldn't just retire and the chivalrous knight would struggle to go unnoticed after all they did... And the fact the J35J Cipher is painted in the soldier paint scheme goes to further prove this
And also, theres one more thing metioned in AC0, in the gauntlet special mission on ace difficulty, you see at first 4 of the wizard squadron, which are immediately taken out by the craft with the Mobius tag, and you seen the tag in AC4, so its like those two games merge for just that mission.
personally, given how AC5 story goes (most of it's dialogue involving Pops says it all) and AC6's cameo of one of the Gault Team, my personal head cannon would goes on like this he faced with Rot, Schwarze, then at the bombardment of Hoffnung and nuclear incident he started to stop indiscriminate killing against yellow targets (albeit in a smaller pace), he eventually faced Gault Team at the B7R during the AWWNB insurgence
Canon ACE style in my opinion : 1 - 12 [Mercenary] Let's just say it would make sense that Cipher is only in for the easy money, hell even Pixy has the same opinion as well. 13 - 16 [Soldier] As merciless as Cipher is, remember that he's still a human being at heart (with no blood circulation lmao), the indiscriminate bombing of Hoffnung, the 7 nuclear bomb detonation, AND Pixy betrayal, ofc it would affect Cipher heavily knowing all of those tragedy above happen so quickly. 17 -18 [Knight] Cipher made up his mind, war is not just about money and fame or who's the winner and the loser, sure the money and the feeling of victory is there, but none of it could equal to the amount of human life he took throughout the war. Especially PJ, no amount of cash or gold will bring him back, least he could do is chase down and destroy the traitor who's taken your wingman from you...
A slight change in the description to make the "Ace Meter" more accurate: Mercenary - Kill ***EVERYTHING*** Soldier - Kill only Hostiles (No Yellow contacts) Knight - Kill only Mission Objectives - "TGT"s
I think he goes from Mercenary to Soldier to Knight. At the beginning of the “nuclear inspection”, he mellowed our and the Nukes made him realize that he simply needed to do the task at hand. Still. Whatever you wanna do.
Great video! I'm happy to see activity some theories focusing on the ace combat series. Perhaps for your next video you could talk about how Excalibur's laser fires horizontally in a straight line during the fight, but somehow fires vertically when attacking in the prior mission. Space mirrors? Curving lasers? I think the game mentions something about it being chemical so perhaps it's treated as a launched projectile, but the arc would be insane, I hope you can figure this out unless someone in the nice comment section has an answer.
That's why Ace Combat Zero is my favorite Ace combat game. If something is gonna happen, is up to you to choose what's gonna be. (like the variants on some missions).
Someone suggested it behaved like an ICBM, but the flaw I see with that idea is this thing needed to be up in space for a LONG time. I couldn't just make a perfect arc from ground to ground like a typical ballistic weapon would. Hypothetically it could adjust to an orbit after launch, but how does it maneuver to that point? And what is the purpose of the big windmill spokes? Dunno man
Well the SOLG has its rotating arms, those are made to precisely counter the rotation of the orbit, meaning it could remain stationary at any one angle without dealing with massive rotation and issues with accuracy despite traveling in however orbit it achieves. Now because it's a satellite made to remain in an ever-stable orbit, I could say it uses simple RCS modules to position its self. In space, it actually doesn't take much to move, even with a satellite so massive.
Valor Vanguard Very interesting. The physics of how exactly the accelerator works is a bit beyond me, but I suppose it could work like that. However, wouldn't a satellite like that be tide locked anyways? Like, it has the same rotation all the time with regard to earth similar to the moon? Mmm... But wait, you MUST be right because, how would it rotate, being a huge ballistic weapons PLATFORM to LAUNCH bombs? I suppose it would change the rate of rotation. Ajdidjsbhhh so confusing
Jack Bartlett lol like I said, the arms are made to match the mass of the main body, meaning they could be rotated so whatever is classified as the bottom of the SOLG (the further most part which is pointed towards the earth) stays pointed towards the Earth without the main body having to move. If those weren't in use, the RCS modules will have to do all the work, centering it, aligning it to a preferred angle, and setting it in rotation to maintain positioning and angle in the orbit. I don't know how the rotating accelerator would work, but judging by how the main body is a huge shaft, it looks like it serves as some kind of mass driver.
The Agaion, Kottos, and Gyges are actually water craft. You can tell by the bottom of the ships that they were made to keep the craft straight as they took off. So, they would only need to construct the Aigaion in a dry dock and take off from calm waters. The game shows how they are refueled in flight so it may be assumed that if major repairs such as engine damage are needed, the aerial fleet would land, make repairs and take off again. Since the craft's wings are so massive and doubled, it would likely create a lot of lift, which makes sense when the Garuda team must also destroy the cockpit after killing all then engines, otherwise the Aigaion would simply glide down to the sea below and await repairs. The only reason its destruction is even guaranteed is because one of the wings snaps off in the mission's ending cut-scene. As for the XB-0, it can likely be treated as any ordinary heavy bomber just with a much larger runway for take-off and landing. Just like shooting down standard bombers, the engines and cockpit would be the primary targets as the gun systems tried to fend off enemy fighters. Without destroying the cockpit after the engines, it may have attempted to glide to its target and complete the bombing but at the cost of its own destruction. I hope that cleared up any questions you might of had on these craft.
Protocol Nine I assume that during the XB-0’s take off, the bomber used auxiliary separation rocket boosters to help get it off ground. It felt like it’s engines alone wouldn’t do the work, lol.
Looking at the chart, I can tell that Max0r didn’t stick to one path and instead fired on targets that poses a threat to him, starting out at soldier, taking on Grun, then murdered a bunch of non threatening targets, getting to Mercenary and taking on Schwarze, and finally calmed down on the murdering spree, going back to soldier and destroying Gault.
All paths are cannon, Cipher goes through all, that's cannon and Pixy even tell's you so in the interviewes, this are Pixy's words: "There are Three Kinds of Aces: Those who seek strenght (Mercenary) Those who live for pride - (Knight) Those who can read the tide of battle (Soldier) Those are the three... And Him (Cipher)... he was a true ace" So Pixy (the true canon indicator) considered, in 2005, Cipher a True Ace, meaning, he was all of those aces into one, meaning he was... A Mercenary from the beginning of the war until the nukes A Soldier from the nukes until PJ's death A Knight from PJ's death until the end of the war!!!
I always felt Soldier was the hardest ace style, especially when going for the Supreme Soldier medal. As a Knight you just avoid destroying yellow targets, as a Mercenary you just destroy everything, but as a soldier you have to destroy only some of the yellow targets. I always found it hard to determine how many I needed to destroy to keep the gauge in the center.
Honestly? I don't think that just because you don't meet Ashley/Grabacr, Bartlett, and Huckebein/Buchner/Pops in routes besides Mercenary, that it means the events surrounding those three characters don't happen. That's a faulty premise: being in different missions and facing different squadrons doesn't mean that Ashley doesn't shoot down Bartlett and Buchner, it simply means you weren't there to witness said events. Especially since, in the Mercenary path, you can take down Buchner yourself, which contradicts what's known in Ace Combat 5. I don't think there IS any one canon interpretation of Cipher.
I believe the canon style changes, but at least in Mission 10, all of the named aces that depend on Ace Style, this is because in Mercenary, Pops/Huckebein the Raven, along with Ashley Bernitz, the future leader of Grabacr Squadron appear. In Soldier, Michael Heimeroth, the leader of Ofnir Squadron appears. This one is less apparent, but in the knight style, you shoot down an ace by the name of Erich Klinsmann, who is implied to be Yellow 13 from Ace Combat 04. Cipher changes from Mercenary to Mercenary/Soldier/Knight, to Soldier at Avalon, and a Knight in the battle with Pixy.
tks for this explanation. I really didn't note it till today. I didnt know that I could hit a fighter with gun till turns him out a yellow target... damn, I wanna play it again!
I always did a thing where I would destroy any ground target even if it was yellow, but I would let crippled planes escape. Doing that, you still end up as a mercenary.
You know what this reminded me of, the Kestrel, 15 years of proud service, the most battle hardened ship even before the circum-pacific war, only to be sunk in the dying stages of the war. Though God as she went down she put up one heck of a fight launching the Razgriz and such but God I wish it gave me control of the plane there so I could strafe the crew of that God damn Yuke sub.
In Mission 2, on the Knight Route, Pixy says the following 'I don't think Cipher wants to do this' in reaction to all the yellow targets around. I don't know how this changes on other routes
I like Soldier the best. Mercenary Cipher is a bloodthirsty killer who fights only for his own profit, while Knight Cipher is pretentious and fights for his own pride. Soldier Cipher, on the other hand, is a stoic badass who, in Pixy's words, can "read the tide of battle." He does what it takes to get the job done, no more and no less. His goal is simply to end the fighting and will do whatever is necessary to accomplish that.
Eu já joguei usando os 3 estilos, mas sempre preferi jogar usando o estilo Knight, por mais que estamos numa guerra e prefiro ser honrado com os inimigos evitando atacar alvos civis ou inimigos neutralizados, eu achei que era até complicado de juntar dinheiro mas joguei boa parte com o F-5, depois troquei pro Gripen e assim que liberou o F-15 eu novamente mudei de caça ( de maneira definitiva ) e sempre podia compra-los assim que os desbloqueava, o estilo Soldier também é interessante assim como o Mercenary, mas ainda sim prefiro jogar de forma honrada e justa por isso utilizo quase sempre o Knight como Ace Style.
Only issue I have with this is that in the mercenary path Cipher shoots down Huckebein, yet in AC5 one of the Grabacr squadron says he was the one who shot down Huckebein. I might just be misreading this but surely this means that the mercenary path isn't the most correct? The way I see it, all of the paths are just how different pilots interpreted Cipher and thus how he flys depends on what pilot he faces. To those he fights on the Knight path see him as an honourable foe, for those he fights on the Mercenary path they see him as a dishonourable pilot, etc.
Literally had no idea that the ace meter changed the game. I was always a knight or soldier, but I definitely would have done a mercenary play through had I known
They've mastered the technology in the Ant Man's suit, shrinking the distance between the nucleus and the electron cloud of the atom by reducing the relative charge. In theory, things could become infinitely small.
Wow...i never actually view the dialogue change on the Ace Meter(that's because i played on a JP version). But you menage so greacefull to explain the Canon that's make me play all the styles again
It must be the mercenary one. On that one you encounter pops/hookebein. Also it makes more sense with the whole Razgriz story. Razgriz starts out as a demon who destroys (cipher) and after that is reborn as a hero (blaze).
I would think that all three paths happen at the same time. at least when it comes to the ace squadrons. side note: just imagine the chaos that mission 10 would be with schnee, schwartz, and Silber all at once.
So rum is the drink of choice for a Merc, whiskey for a Solly, and wine for a Knight. I don't drink anymore, but I find whiskey to go down the easiest for me. Canonically, I must have been a "Soldier Ace".
i managed to actually get all three styles in a combat zero campaign when i was a kid and i agree the mercenary story line is really hard to complete through many trials and errors i managed to complete it on mercenary :)
HOLY SHIT I DIDNT KNOW THAT!!! I was only 9 or 10 years old when i first played that beautiful game. Somehow i managed to reach the ending and complete the game when i was really young. I am 17 now and this gave so much chills down my spine.
It depends on what you think is canon route and your playing style, but I would say mercenary as Mayhem is where Jack Bartlett appears and Huckebein, the bases of AC5 and Cipher him/her self is a mercenary.
You know... for the sole reason that you CAN kill pops in Mercenary style I'd say it's the least canon one, as we know Pops was NOT killed. It's the only style that AC5 characters appear, but that doesn't make it canon. No-one said AC5 characters ever interacted with Cipher. In fact the chances of those characters (including Pops) surviving in front of a Merc-style Cipher is so low that I think it is exactly this reason that suggests the Merc style is not canon. Besides, what did the Journalist said? Those who met Cipher always wear a smile when they mentioned him. All of 'em gained something from the experience, even if they experienced fear, despair or even losing loved ones. I don't think a Bernitz who met Cipher would become the hatred-filled Grapacr leader we met in AC5. I think the reason why there are different routes to begin with was that all records about Cipher was deleted, and the journalist, under Pixy's intro about "3 kinds of aces" came up with three different possible models of what kind of person Cipher could've been. Perhaps in the journalist's POV there's no canon, just three possibilities according to different accounts. Another reason to not think of Merc style as canon is that this is a Japanese game. Due to WWII issues, it'd be very problematic for a Japanese game to portray a bloodthirsty protagonist. This is exactly the same reason why we have such anti-war-ish storylines in AC5 and AC7, as well as characters who question war and nation like Pixy, Tabloid (or whoever that questioned "it's because nations exist" in OP Three of a Kind), Nagase and Mihaly.
I've always thought of the different ace styles and mission choices being canon. I mean, it's kinda like the game had certain limitations and they couldn't have fit everything in one singular route. And made it with different play styles and mission choices dictating the story
Cipher is a mercenary before the Nukes. Soldier after the Nukes and before Avalon. Knight when you face Pixy.
Cipher is all three. Making him a Demon Lord and a true Ace.
couldnt have said it better
Totally agree, PJs line on Avalon as Mercenary doesn't make any sense for him, but Soldies does
make sense Compare to ace style progress and Razgriz poems, at first he was a Demon lord who seek power from battle, then he became a soldier who want to did it right, and at last he is rising up as a hero who end the war.
BattlefireTV this seems to make the most sense to me.
I always like to think that Cipher was a knight when he entered the war wanting to protect the innocent people....but money and power blinded him so he changes from mission 5 till 9 in order to reach mission 10 as a mercenary. This act also makes Pixy starting to lose his trust in Cipher and starting to believe that humanity has no hope since such a honorable pilot was able to be corrupted especially after the fiasco at mission 11 Pixy thinks he had enough from both his allies and Cipher and decided it all has to end....then at mission 12 where the nuclear bombs drop and Pixy defects, Cipher is in shock that his wingman left him and such a tragedy occured that he finally understands that the path he has chosen is wrong and changes again....not becoming the pilot he once was fighting for glory and fame but a pilot fighting for this war to finally end. Ending the campaign as a soldier...fighting Graunt 1 with the epic line "let the freedom be justice" and hearing PJ say "We did it The fighting is over" just felt right!
I call the “Ace Meter” the Warcrime meter as it’s effectively scale of War Crimes.
Mercenary: OSEA
The most memorable thing to me, at least was strafing tanks on anfang as a mercenary, and hearing
"Does the demon lord require more souls for his sacrifice?"
That stuck with me for a while...
I don't remember this line probably because I was doing knights the whole time
Weird, I was playing Knight and I still heard that line.
Is it at the round table b7r?
"How many points did you get?"
"He was a true ace."
Cipher begins as a typical fighter pilot-turned-mercenary. He's not an unstoppable entity yet, but he is definitely talented. "He has potential". Pixy is also way more casual in the beginning as well, kind of signaling that while he does like working with Cipher, he hasn't come to realize and respect the monstrous potential is partner has yet. The mercenaries and friendly fighter pilots all seem more laid back and nonchalant, this is just a job and they're just getting paid. The situation is simple, really bad and powerful nation has started bullying everybody and now we're beating them back. *Soldier Style from Glacial Skies to Liberation*
It's from Glatistant onwards things start to get more complicated. Cipher hasn't quite reached his peak notoriety yet, but he's definitely caught most everyone's attention. Enemy combatants aren't paralyzed by fear at the mere mentioning of his name, but he is certainly a force to be reckoned with. Pixy also starts to take things a bit more seriously, especially now that- Rather than just being hired on to even out the odds a little bit, him and Cipher are now straight up being employed to participate (and spearhead) in the full-scale invasion of a formidable world power with nuclear capabilities and a massively boosted and highly trained military, all under the justification of "nuclear inspection" although everyone involved knows its truly just an act of reprisal for Belka's previous unwarranted aggressions. Everyone is a little fed up with Belka, but rather than beating Belka back and then just calling it even, the Allied Forces are basically waging a war of revenge and attrition, fighting fire with fire. Meanwhile, Belka (who started this war out of desperation) is starting to panic and are preparing to start taking extreme measures of self-preservation. Of course, to finish the game you have to continue, but realistically, under the "professional emotionally detached" Soldier style, Cipher probably would've just quit. He did his job, got his hefty check, and the tide of war has turned. What reason would make him want to stay and fight it out further?... Because he wants to. Because, just like the other members of the allied forces and nations, this is now personal. It was a hell of a fight kicking Belka back into their own territories, and they were way to close to winning. No, no, no- Belka wants to play rough? We can play rough. Now its the Allies' turn. *Mercenary Style from Glatistant to Stage of the Apocalypse*
As predicted, things got out of hand. Cipher and gang have gone off the rails, shooting down and destroying anything that stands before them. Cipher specifically starts to stand out because not only is this guy the nearly sole reason Belka couldn't take Ustio's skies, but also the reason Belka lost them all together. Still , during the early stages, there were several different theaters all with their own little unique war heroes fighting about. Cipher stood out, sure, but just as much as Pixy, or Wizard Team, or Gelb Team, and so on. Just another Ace, only on the slightly higher end. Now, however, Cipher is constantly miles ahead of all allies in terms of capability and effectiveness, and in turn, he is always right in Belka's face, constantly delivering lethal blows. On top of that, everyone has basically started moving in the same direction, almost streamlining towards North Belka, so every one of Cipher's performances now has a much larger audience, including Belka's best. Not to mention Cipher was responsible for destroying Excalibur, a remarkable achievement unique only to him. The Allies have gotten carried away entirely with this war, and so has Cipher, and Pixy to some extent. Professionalism is out the window, this now about teaching the Belkans a lesson. The Allies are at the peak of their power, victory after victory, and the intend to make the most of this pleasant change. To the Belkans, though, this is an absolute nightmare. Soldiers dying by the thousands, constant destruction of infrastructure, rapid lose of precious resources and territory. It's not until Operation Cannibal that Cipher, Pixy, and a fraction of the Allies' forces, see the situation for what it really is. A disaster. "A collision of powers." With innocent lives being crushed in the middle. Cipher and the Allies are just getting "payback" anymore or taking any sort of "necessary" action. They've become just as unhinged as the Belkans were in the beginning of this war. Cipher and Pixy both start waiver in their hearts. Their ideals begin to crack.
In Stage of the Apocalypse, the entire world is shaken at its core. Above everyone though, Cipher and Pixy witness firsthand the results of their actions, furthermore because they're skill and prowess lead them to being by far the most influential factor in the achieving the outcome before them. Pixy attacks Cipher out of resentment for leading him this far into a personal hell, and feels betrayed and manipulated by both Cipher and the Allies in general. Cipher is stunned and caught off guard, but does not take the opportunity to pursue or engage Pixy as he departs. This needs to be the end. Pixy and Cipher both feel that it was conflict that lead them to this crisis in this first place, now, each has a different approach to how prevent from ever making this mistake again, and as soon as the bombs drop, Cipher and Pixy both start to practice their new strategies for insuring peace.
Cipher leaves it all behind, realizing that his actions and unchecked dominance over the skies is what really led to the bombs being dropped in the first place. With word of a treaty and agreement, Cipher walks away from the world of combat, feeling as if people for peace can only succeed as long as people of power such as him aren't around to entice power struggles. Who will fight wars if there are no warriors?
Pixy, on the other hand, decides to use his power to force change, to crush everyone so that no one can stand back up to fight.
"Two sides of the same coin, never facing the same direction."
-6 months past-
The rest of the game is *Knight style*. Cipher reluctantly returns but only because knowing that deep down he's the only one capable of stopping the oncoming threat. Cipher fights Pixy's close friend and long-time colleague, Bristow "Wizard 1" (Merlin), who is arguably the most revered ace of the Belkan War, behind Cipher and Pixy. Besides a founding member and one of the original designers of AWWNB's principles, Bristow is also the man who convinced Pixy to betray Cipher and the Allies. Cipher has also encountered and even fought alongside Wizard 1 in the past, specifically during Mayhem, so the theme of betrayal and respect rivals is even more prominent in this situation. Bonus, Wizard Squadron uses an advanced aircraft, the fifth-generation YF-23, very fitting of a semi-final boss considering the final boss is a fictional sixth-generation aircraft.
Finally, the two former comrades and the two undoubtedly most skilled fighter pilots of the war have finally become knights. Dark and Light, Good and Bad, but both fight bound by a code and their own ideals- It's not about money anymore, and this is far more than just simple "duty". This is for what they believe in, this is for Honor. The two joust in the purple sky until they both merge, strike, and cross one final time. Cipher narrowly avoiding his opponent's blade, however Pixy is struck and falls to the land below in defeat.
Having finally ended what he unintentionally started, righted his wrongs, ascended after his descent, and redeemed himself, Cipher lands back home, but takes off again without ever stopping for the landing. There is no reason to return back to his old base, back to the briefing room, the barracks, the hangar, no reason to return to his hired military or comrades. His war is over, he no longer wants a place in it, so he leaves it behind. No paycheck, no medals, just his honor.
Tl;dr This is a story of redemption. There is no one way Ace style through and through. Its all 3, but I do believe it's in this order fur these reasons. Thanks for reading!
Cipher is the Progenitor of the Razgriz myth. Your comment matches well with that fairytale, and I always believed that Cipher has been the inspiration of his successors. Mobius 1 took his colors for a time in his F22, Blaze and his squadron took up the mantle to spread 4 wings, The Demon Lord of The Round Table truly did strike fear and admiration, all in a matter of a few active months. I will always fly the F15C to honor him.
Amazing Comment
Thank You
But Goddam
Warn Me Before You Drop a Book on AC Zero
Great comment
When I first got this game as a kid, I didn't even know "Soldier" and "Knight" were an option. I just killed everything xD
Lol same, i don't know there a 3 kinds of aces when i was kid
Ace Combat Zero is a masterpiece, as Larry says at the beginning of the game "there are three kind of aces, those who seek strength, those who live for pride and those who can reach the tide of a battle".
This perfectly means that our character Cipher is an all out fighter that can easily be a mercenary, Knight or soldier style of soldier, he can easily change it's way of facing the foe and his reputation on the field.
Again, as Pixy said, he is clearly the true ace, mixing the three kinds and merging them into his own persona.
It has a great foundation laid down by AC5, so they can focus on cinematics, character, story, world building. It always amazes me how much stuff is in old games. Nowadays we got an game engine and that's pretty much it, everything else need to be paid(extra) for.
I read somewhere that probably the real thing is that Cipher faced all of those squadron during their respective missions in B7R.
Dividing aces into categories sounds suspiciously like boundaries. We know how Pixy feels about boundaries/borders.
To get same row Soldier Ace is hard. The story in AC0 make me feel sad, because the narrator is Larry/Pixy he tell for his buddy (Missions 1-12) and his enemy (Missions 13-18), He Tell In 25 November 2005, and he is a good motivation to get a peace in Final Interview, is Larry fouke
Espada 2 has a different description of how her boyfriend dies depending on the ace style. Espada 1 dies no matter what path you take. But she says that he dies in the fight with Cipher while she managed to bail out on mercenary, that he dies in the hospital after limping away from the encounter on soldier and that he survived the battle but then died in the next one he fought because he risked his injuries on knight.
*_I really hope you see this_*
Yeah, I can agree with that analysis. Though, it still does seem quite possible that the coming events of AC5 weren't contributed to by Cypher himself. That being said, I do have an opposing point to be made that could prove the canon Mercenary theory otherwise:
--
Maybe the ace style difficulty is made in a way to still challenge you in consideration with how much money you make. In terms of the styles themselves, you make the least money as a Knight, a median of money in Soldier, and the most as a Mercenary. So in a Mercenary 1st playthrough, you have the most access to weapons and aircraft, therefore the enemies will need to be harder to combat such access to weapons and aircraft.
Also, I must bring up a theory about the relation to the story the game samples from; the Legend of King Arthur. In the legend, Arthur faces off with Morgan in a joust, and kills him, but not before being badly wounded. He is taken to a nearby chapel, where he bids his fellow wards to throw his weapon, Excalibur, into the lake. It's also important to note that one of his men also died of their wounds in that chapel, in his company. He then asks that they take him to the lake, as he bids his goodbye. Arthur is then taken aloft on a ferry, where he shall go to Avalon to rest. Waiting for when the world will need him and Excalibur again.
This story leads me to believe that the battle between Cypher and Pixy actually turns out just like that of the original story of King Arthur. In the time of the battle, PJ dies, like Arthur's fellow man in the chapel, and the two opposing characters, Cipher and Pixy, joust to the death, like Arthur and Morgan. In the aftermath, Cypher casts away his weapon at Avalon, stops being a mercenary pilot, and completely disappears, no longer to be seen, and fading into legend. And the final comparison is that the journalist and other pilots contemplate if they will meet Cypher again one day. Just like how it's believed that Arthur will return when Britain needs her hero once more.
With that vital piece of lore noted; what is to say that Cypher is actually the King Arthur of Ace Combat, and in fact, a Knight, as the one who pulled the sword Excalibur from the stone, and proved all those who judged him to be dead wrong? That seems pretty solid.
It is also EXTREMELY important to note that a cypher is a _secret_ or _disguised_ form of code. It's also the archaic word for the figure 0 (zero). With that said, Cypher could even more literally be the Ace Combat representation of King Arthur.
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Also, on a smaller note complementary to the acting in cutscenes. You could also notice that besides the difference in lines, the demeanor of the characters were also different.
Under Mercenary: Their tone and head positioning is lower, and speak almost as if they hated or feared having met you, even Pixy.
Soldier: They have a level and respecting demeanor. Like they understand that what had happened was simply war, and don't blame you for doing what you had to, being a soldier.
Knight: Their heads are held high, and their vocal tone is notably higher and more positive. They speak as if they are proud and fascinated to have encountered you in their life. And seemingly wouldn't mind meeting again in person.
I somehow figured out that Cipher himself was a reference to King Arthur. You just confirmed it to me xD Thanks. It's amazing how the game references the legend that deeply, even when they barely mention bits of the legend in the game.
Jonathan Flores I always admired Ace Combat story writing for being 'show, don't tell'. It gives you a much deeper emotional connection to the series, and through every epiphany found, you must dig deeper because there isn't just one for anything you encounter. Everything in the series is so well-explained and there is very little that goes without explanation. Even the reason why you can use the Erusian X-02 Wyvern in AC5 is explained by canon.
Bob Namg I wouldn't think that Cipher is making his return at all, and neither would the aces of 5. They had their own eras in which they reigned.
A World With No Boundaries was, in fact, destroyed and disbanded. The same was for The Grey Men, as Grabacr and Ofnir were destroyed, as well as the inner circle within Gründer Industries found in the immediate events after the destruction of the SOLG. I also doubt the likeliness of the two organizations actually fighting for dominance against one another. We've left the time of warring countries, and entered the time of warring corporations, beyond the politics of the two organizations altogether.
One thing I can say for certain; if 7 is set around 2030, we will _at least_ hear of Ouroboros, the transhumanist terrorist organization, as it was formed around that time.
Overall, if AC7 is written correctly, it should drop us into the corporate war era quite nicely.
If AC3 is to be believed despite its ultimately simulated nature, Ouroboros only made itself present in 2040; they may have been established earlier, but it'd be one hell of a conspiracy chain for *anyone* other than sublimated AI Dision and his co-conspirators to know anything about the establishment, let alone the Oseans or Eruseans. (then again, if Simon knew enough about Ouroboros to link Dision, Sphyrna, Night Raven etc. to it, before they even started doing anything noteworthy...)
Speaking of Eruseans, Usea was under corporate rule by the 2030's, meaning Erusea wouldn't even be present by time Ouroboros was born. EAF emblems decorate the aircraft seen in numerous trailers so far. Unless Ouroboros was present before Usean corporate rule overtook the world (which, given it's led by sublimated AI Dision, brought to that position by General Resource, is highly unlikely), it would be utterly impossible to encounter Eruseans if Ouroboros is present.
Finally, AC7 is confirmed to be set in the 2020s as confirmed by Siliconera www.siliconera.com/2016/12/06/ace-combat-7-takes-place-10-year-events-ace-combat-5/ and possibly in 2020 (circum-pacific ended on 12/30/2010) itself alongside Aurelia and Leasath's little fight (which started in October 2020).
Derpy 1109 True there. Maybe this would better fill in the gaps of the story. What gets me is the huge technology jump in just those 10 years. You have the weapons of 5, then you get a space elevator, and these insane drones, with the November Stadium flight of the Falken, Adler, Wyvern, and Morgan in between. I do find this early production variant of the COFFIN system and the Erusian drones believable, as evidence of Op. Katina, but there's a lot to be explained.
My headcanon is that Cipher is a Merc through and through, until the fire bombing of Hoffnug. After seeing first hand just how far the Allies were willing to go probably shook Cipher to his core, just like it did for Pixy. The subsequent Belkan self-nuclear strike and betrayal of Pixy drove him to reconsider his outlook on life. From that point on, I think Cipher would slowly follow the Soldier path. By the end of the war (Avalon), I believe that Cipher would have abandoned the Mercenary path for good, which could explain why he disappeared after the war. It also dove tails into another theory I have about Cipher's identity, but that's another story.
Is it possible to change path from mercenary to knight? I thought it will be permanent
@@Komyeta Ace style is not permanent. The more you kill yellow targets, the higher ace meter you will get to the mercenary side and vice versa. Following this theory, Cipher might stay true to the mercenary style until the bombing of Hoffnug. And from that point, the lesser he kills, the lower the ace meter, slowly siding soldier and knight. But with so many kills on the very early missions, it isn't easy to get into the knight style by the end of the campaign. Also, the leader of the Gault squadron is the one who was shown officially dead. Getting to the soldier style by the end of the campaign is possible still.
For me just like Larry said, there's 3 kind of Ace and Cipher is all of them. the "route" is only there for gameplay and replayability.
Personally, I think that all of the mission choices and Ace styles can be considered canonical after a fashion. There is no reason that Pops, Bartlett, and Ashley couldn't be in the Belkan War but simply not encounter Cipher. Furthermore, we already know that the history of the Belkan War is very convoluted. Everyone is a hero and a villain. Everyone is a victim and an aggressor. Therefore, I think that Ace Combat Zero leaves the canonality of its events up to the player to decide for his or her own head canon.
well said comrade ;)
It has been said that all three options are canon at the same time. As though he fought all three squadrons at once.
Well they did make the Demon Lord into a legend didn't they?
Clyde Marshall
the history books mentioned a "lone mercenary" from the cutscenes really
Yes, but his adversaries, the awe he inspired. He became a legend of sorts. Lost to the uncertainty of time and war.
I think most people believe that the Mercenary route is the canon route.
CPU Galva Heart well most people believe this is mostly due to cipher being a merc and this can also be backed up on mission 10 mayhem, why? because bartlett and pops get shot down during the mission which is canon to the real story.
vincent eby Exactly why most people believe that the Mercenary route is the canon route. :P
but the thing that questions people is that project aces released ciphers j-35j and its soldier themed not mercenary so this could mean the soldier could have happened. But idk lets just hope project aces makes Ace Combat 7 Great!
And AceCombat fan great video keep up the great work!
vincent eby Yeah, a little confusing with the Soldier Style Draken. But it's still cool to me. :P
The J35J -CP- is based on the soldier paint scheme because you always start the game as a soldier
"...what trap could a windmill pose to a fighter pilot"
Transform into a Gundam?
And I didn't know that PJ could be such a greedy guy in the Mercenary route
lol in Lying in Deceit, if you start killing yellow targets, PJ'll say
"Galm 1's actions are inhuman... I should be able to do that too."
which basically means you're slowly desensitizing him and he sees you as a role model...
he literally acknowledges how immoral and money hungry you get from destroying neutral targets and instead of being disgusted he's like "i should do that too!"
not like he hits anything though
like ever
Volans, Toa of Air Cipher's kind of an antihero if that's the case
In my experience, he managed to snatch some kills from me a while ago. I think Pixy/PJ become more agressive as you fill the Pac-Man counter of every plane
Huh, he's not that greedy for me. No joke, I've been through about 7 playthroughs, and the kid has about 16 kills...
Valor Vanguard I hate pj
YES, YES, YES! Ace Combat Fan you are the youtuber I've been looking for! Ace Combat does not get nearly as much love as it should from the youtube community. It's lore, mechanics, and history deserve to be explored. Please, please keep these videos coming!
Soldier route is canon to me. I don't know about others, but the other routes don't really fit. Mercenary route expects you to be a cold, merciless murderer and yet people, ally and enemy, smile when they think about Cipher...what? Knight style seems to arrogant about all that 'pride and honor' stuff; you don't do justice because it is good, you do it out of 'pride and honor'. I don't think someone known as 'Demon Lord' would be all goody goody and honorable. Soldier seems like the perfect balance point to me.
I mean you do know that the story thematically is basically the King Arthur legend right? Knight is probably canon with Cipher occasionally doing knight and mercenary actions.
SOMEGUY7893 Sir Thomas Malory is a Socipath thus full merc, nothing honorable about that.
Ace combat fan: "lovely windmill"
Me *tries to unlock mercenary medals and uses tactical laser to destroy it*
Random Person: "Which ace style is canon?"
Cipher: "Yes."
I think a neat way to look at this is that all three styles are canon at the same time, not because Cipher is a mix of all the skills, but because he is remembered differently by the various pilots. War is a chaotic place, and only Cipher and Pixy truly know where they were in every operation. Some say he shot down Schwartz. Others say he was there tearing the F-14s and A-6 of Schnee apart. Silber claims Galm team fought them. Maybe he did. Maybe he didn't. It's hard to say. Many of them are dead, and it would be embarrassing for the Belkan Knights of the Round Table to be defeated by anyone other than the Demon Lord.
Or maybe there is no demon lord. Maybe Cipher is a superstitious moniker. 'ZERO'. There is no demon lord. It's just a rumor shared amongst the fallen aces to keep their pride in tact. That they didn't get rusty, or overconfident. That they were shot down by the most legendary pilot to ever curse the skies of B7R.
Only one man knows for certain. His name is Larry 'Solo Wing Pixy' Foulke.
Aaaah this was so nice to read
This. So much this.
try this:
mercenary style until 6th June 1995
soldier style until Operation Thunderbolt
knight style until Operation Zero
Noordin M Top what happened then
@@drhputra1635 wew i never try that
Sounds the most cannon to me
I call that the Razgriz style. Following the myth, being a Mercenary puts you as a Demon, the Soldier style means somewhere the demon dies, and the end, it came back as a hero, thus a Knight style.
From multiple playthroughs, if I recall correctly, there are two similar but slightly different ways to achieve each Ace style.
The method mentioned in the video, the treatment of yellow targets, is correct. Using this method, Soldier does have a median potential income, as one commenter noted. This is assuming all styles rely on getting S ranks for max income.
However, I believe the Ace style description for Soldier tends to favor quick completion. While Knight and Mercenary styles rely much more on the treatment of yellow targets, I've noticed shooting down only targets and ignoring greens and yellows tends to favor the Soldier style in game. As soon as you start killing greens, your gauge starts sliding to the Knight end. I think the developer logic is that at that point, you're intentionally going out of your way to avoid yellows, making you a Knight player. With this observation in mind, Soldier has the potentially lowest income in game should you play with the principles of each Ace Style in mind.
I have to say the ace style ''soldier'' are canon too because in ace combat 6, in the mission 9, you face ''Feniks'' who is actually Lorenz Riedel (the Gault 7 from mission 16). He has defected for Estovakia and helped in the development of the P-1112 ''Aigaion''.
Personally, I strongly believe that the the "canonical" squadrons fought by Cipher are, in order, Rot, Schwartze, and Gault.
1. Rot, because Fleisher sounded like the most fleshed out of the three, and also because what he mentions during the interview fits the whole plot's narrative perfectly (him saying how "a nation is comprised of the individuals who live in its borders, it can only become a nation when it is supported by those individuals.").
2. Schwartze, obviously due to the presence and involvement of Pops, Bartlett and Grabacr from AC5 in the fight, and the happening perfectly mirroring what is mentioned by those characters in the previous game to have happened, as such being inevitably tied to the event.
3. Gault, since it's the one that makes the most logical sense in the narrative, being Kupchenko the (likely) mastermind behind AWWNB (and so, instead of fighting mere lieutenants, Cipher has to face off against its very own "head director", who as we know had a thing for involving himself directly and personally with the fighting), and him being rarely ever mentioned or seen out of his and his team's "boss battle" and the resulting cutscenes (something that would be extremely weird to say the least, considered his crucial role in the plot, but which could easily be made sense of if his battle was to be considered canonical, as such allowing a slightly larger presence of his in the story).
@AISUYU For as much as I'd have loved as well to see and hear much more of his charismatic character, I think that sadly it wouldn't have fit much the narrative for him to be a final boss. This because AC Zero is obviously based on the whole Arthurian mythos, and while Pixy represented King Arthur, Kupchenko represented Merlin instead, the "guardian" and "personal advisor/assistant" of the king. As a result, it was inevitable that he would have had to cover more of a "side" role, rather than being under the spotlight.
This, plus also the whole build-up to it all done throughout the plot, as making the final boss a guy that you never seen or heard of until the very last missions may have felt disappointing and awkward.
However, while it may have not been (in my opinion) a fitting choice as a final boss, again, it certainly would have been an amazing idea to me to see and hear more of him, to get more interactions and expand on his character, lore and more, rather than just leave him as some super-enigmatic dude with very little info provided about him (to the point he wasn't even provided a picture).
To be honest thats a really good question to see it in all angles.
also that could make sense since that means Anton (the squad Leader from Gault) didn't dies on and was the responsable for creating the XB-10 from AC2 and finish the "ADF-01" ... similar to Lorenz "Feniks" Riedel (his right hand) who take part with him in the creation of the XB-0 and the Dragonet subs along with the Aigaion.
3:50 this pretty much confirms to me that Avalon dam doesn’t make sense on mercenary, as PJ isn’t the sort of person who would consider money the first order of business after preventing Armageddon.
Since Pops shows up in Mission 10, it’s entirely possible for Galm 1 to have changed his tune between then and Avalon. And once again, while both Soldier and Knight styles make sense dialogue wise for PJ in Avalon, Mercenary does not. In particular, the very next mission is the fire bombing of Hoffnung, which would make a PERFECTLY logical turning point for Galm 1 to switch ace styles.
I know I’m commenting on a old video, but I don’t know where else I could hope to talk about these things anyway.
Considering that canonically, each member of each enemy squadron was given a backstory after the war, with a fair amount of them being labeled Killed in Action, there's a chance that Cipher encountered and possibly beat down all 9 enemy squadrons over the course of the war. Really does put into context the whole, "first coming of the Razgriz" theme.
I think the mission we players are playing is just like some sort of a reconstruction of the stories told in third person view by the interviews in the attempt of reliving the story of chiper. Its kinda like how i met your mother? where a story can have different point of view. So i think the game part is not an accurate event since they are just stories told by people who witness the "demon lord". different "style" only meant the story was romanticised by the story teller. So in a way id say we are not actually playing as chiper, but as brett, and the story line and the style is a result of the course on how our investigation of the evolves.
It's an interesting theory. I've heard people say that all three ace style paths are canon. I thought to myself, how can that be? All the cutscenes describe a different type of person and account of events. So how could they have all been true at the same time? Your theory may be the answer to that apparent contradiction. Another possibility could be that Cipher changed his Ace Style based on what his mission was and who he was fighting. He adapted his style to match his circumstances. Whichever one of these theories is true, I do believe that all three Ace Style paths are canon. In one of the cutscenes you get in the game, Brett Thompson shows pictures of some of the pilots he interviewed. It shows the commanders of Rot, Grun, Indigo, and Silber. You meet Rot on the Mercenary path, Grun in the Soldier one, Indigo and Silber in the Knight one. So Cipher must have fought in all three paths.
I like to think that Cipher's style changed as the War progressed.
He started as a soldier, and became more and more greedy for money until he was a mercenary at Mayhem (preserving the AC5 connection). The next mission is Inferno, and that affects Cipher so that he stops hitting yellow targets, and by the end he becomes a Knight. Where he fights Wizard Squadron (my personal favourite squadron) at B7R and becomes a Hero at Avalon.
To me, it adds a nice sort of redemption arc.
Yep this is it
3:43 pj's signature voice crack
"We're gonna be RICH!"
Omg this is interesting! I want Bandai Namco remaster this game with multi platform release!
4:38 Ace combat 7 in a nutshell
*Daredevil intensifies*
I always like to think to myself that that he may have shot everyone down. Yes, mercenary style may have been canon, but wouldn’t it be crazy if there were obscure and unrecorded patrol sorties that Cipher took in between missions which led to him encounter the other aces? If you ask me, that would be a neat addition to Cipher’s history.
Which style is canon in Zero?
"He was a true Ace."
[Trigger laughter]
You should be at History Channel..
In all honesty Pixy describes Cipher as "a true ace" meaning that he wasn't completely a knight in shing armor nor was he a bloodthirsty killer for the most part he was a soldier but he'd dip back and forth between the ace styles cause of the fact he was "a true ace" especially since PJ wasn't there for the money nor was he there to be a hero he was there in hopes of ending the war and Cipher disappearing afterwards seems more like what a tired soldier would do a blood thirsty mercenary wouldn't just retire and the chivalrous knight would struggle to go unnoticed after all they did... And the fact the J35J Cipher is painted in the soldier paint scheme goes to further prove this
Woah, I didn't expect we'll get the 2nd episode this fast.
The quality is much better, great job!!
also of note is that Gault 7 appears in Ace Combat 6, so that might give some canonicity to Soldier at least by the time of the last 3 missions
And also, theres one more thing metioned in AC0, in the gauntlet special mission on ace difficulty, you see at first 4 of the wizard squadron, which are immediately taken out by the craft with the Mobius tag, and you seen the tag in AC4, so its like those two games merge for just that mission.
personally, given how AC5 story goes (most of it's dialogue involving Pops says it all) and AC6's cameo of one of the Gault Team, my personal head cannon would goes on like this
he faced with Rot, Schwarze, then at the bombardment of Hoffnung and nuclear incident he started to stop indiscriminate killing against yellow targets (albeit in a smaller pace), he eventually faced Gault Team at the B7R during the AWWNB insurgence
Grip Runner 420 o
I did the mercenary in my first play. The name's also fitting "demon lord". I put fear in my enemy!
Canon ACE style in my opinion :
1 - 12 [Mercenary]
Let's just say it would make sense that Cipher is only in for the easy money, hell even Pixy has the same opinion as well.
13 - 16 [Soldier]
As merciless as Cipher is, remember that he's still a human being at heart (with no blood circulation lmao), the indiscriminate bombing of Hoffnung, the 7 nuclear bomb detonation, AND Pixy betrayal, ofc it would affect Cipher heavily knowing all of those tragedy above happen so quickly.
17 -18 [Knight]
Cipher made up his mind, war is not just about money and fame or who's the winner and the loser, sure the money and the feeling of victory is there, but none of it could equal to the amount of human life he took throughout the war.
Especially PJ, no amount of cash or gold will bring him back, least he could do is chase down and destroy the traitor who's taken your wingman from you...
A slight change in the description to make the "Ace Meter" more accurate:
Mercenary - Kill ***EVERYTHING***
Soldier - Kill only Hostiles (No Yellow contacts)
Knight - Kill only Mission Objectives - "TGT"s
The "could have happened" is reinforced by the fact that Cipher's actions in the war were shrouded in mystery almost the stuff of legend.
Gotta say: Gelb's interview is kinda funny when you absolutely annihilate both of them with 4AAM missile spam xD
hell, I blew them both down in less than a minute on hard with an A-10. I thought I was going to have a tough time
So max0r went Soldier, Mercenary, then Soldier.
Never realized this when I was kid, always flew knight and never realized it but it makes sense, I feel guilty when virtual civilians die.
I completely forgot about this! I absolutely love the Ace Combat series, I would buy a PS2 all over again just to play these.
I think he goes from Mercenary to Soldier to Knight. At the beginning of the “nuclear inspection”, he mellowed our and the Nukes made him realize that he simply needed to do the task at hand. Still. Whatever you wanna do.
Great video! I'm happy to see activity some theories focusing on the ace combat series. Perhaps for your next video you could talk about how Excalibur's laser fires horizontally in a straight line during the fight, but somehow fires vertically when attacking in the prior mission. Space mirrors? Curving lasers? I think the game mentions something about it being chemical so perhaps it's treated as a launched projectile, but the arc would be insane, I hope you can figure this out unless someone in the nice comment section has an answer.
Protocol Nine . Mirrors in AWACS like planes as (I think is mentioned somewhere). Could also be orbital or airship mairrors.
That's why Ace Combat Zero is my favorite Ace combat game. If something is gonna happen, is up to you to choose what's gonna be. (like the variants on some missions).
I like the series. Repeating my previous request for an explanation as to how the SOLG maneuvers
Someone suggested it behaved like an ICBM, but the flaw I see with that idea is this thing needed to be up in space for a LONG time. I couldn't just make a perfect arc from ground to ground like a typical ballistic weapon would. Hypothetically it could adjust to an orbit after launch, but how does it maneuver to that point? And what is the purpose of the big windmill spokes? Dunno man
Well the SOLG has its rotating arms, those are made to precisely counter the rotation of the orbit, meaning it could remain stationary at any one angle without dealing with massive rotation and issues with accuracy despite traveling in however orbit it achieves. Now because it's a satellite made to remain in an ever-stable orbit, I could say it uses simple RCS modules to position its self. In space, it actually doesn't take much to move, even with a satellite so massive.
Valor Vanguard Very interesting. The physics of how exactly the accelerator works is a bit beyond me, but I suppose it could work like that. However, wouldn't a satellite like that be tide locked anyways? Like, it has the same rotation all the time with regard to earth similar to the moon? Mmm... But wait, you MUST be right because, how would it rotate, being a huge ballistic weapons PLATFORM to LAUNCH bombs? I suppose it would change the rate of rotation. Ajdidjsbhhh so confusing
Jack Bartlett lol like I said, the arms are made to match the mass of the main body, meaning they could be rotated so whatever is classified as the bottom of the SOLG (the further most part which is pointed towards the earth) stays pointed towards the Earth without the main body having to move.
If those weren't in use, the RCS modules will have to do all the work, centering it, aligning it to a preferred angle, and setting it in rotation to maintain positioning and angle in the orbit.
I don't know how the rotating accelerator would work, but judging by how the main body is a huge shaft, it looks like it serves as some kind of mass driver.
Valor Vanguard Lol I guess. Interesting to think about to say the least
I have one regarding XB-0 and P-1112 Agaion. How did both take off and how did they Service aircraft? Or just something on them.
The Agaion, Kottos, and Gyges are actually water craft. You can tell by the bottom of the ships that they were made to keep the craft straight as they took off. So, they would only need to construct the Aigaion in a dry dock and take off from calm waters. The game shows how they are refueled in flight so it may be assumed that if major repairs such as engine damage are needed, the aerial fleet would land, make repairs and take off again. Since the craft's wings are so massive and doubled, it would likely create a lot of lift, which makes sense when the Garuda team must also destroy the cockpit after killing all then engines, otherwise the Aigaion would simply glide down to the sea below and await repairs. The only reason its destruction is even guaranteed is because one of the wings snaps off in the mission's ending cut-scene.
As for the XB-0, it can likely be treated as any ordinary heavy bomber just with a much larger runway for take-off and landing. Just like shooting down standard bombers, the engines and cockpit would be the primary targets as the gun systems tried to fend off enemy fighters. Without destroying the cockpit after the engines, it may have attempted to glide to its target and complete the bombing but at the cost of its own destruction.
I hope that cleared up any questions you might of had on these craft.
Protocol Nine I assume that during the XB-0’s take off, the bomber used auxiliary separation rocket boosters to help get it off ground. It felt like it’s engines alone wouldn’t do the work, lol.
My headcanon is Knight Glacial Skies to Diapason, Soldier Bastion to Mayhem, Mercenary The Inferno to Zero.
This was very well-done man, keep up the great work.
Looking at the chart, I can tell that Max0r didn’t stick to one path and instead fired on targets that poses a threat to him, starting out at soldier, taking on Grun, then murdered a bunch of non threatening targets, getting to Mercenary and taking on Schwarze, and finally calmed down on the murdering spree, going back to soldier and destroying Gault.
I mean , the dude is a mercenary , so the canon option was obviously the mercenary path
That's awesome. Games that changes based on your play style is super awesome.
AC0 was my first ace combat game and favorite game to this day
All paths are cannon, Cipher goes through all, that's cannon and Pixy even tell's you so in the interviewes, this are Pixy's words:
"There are Three Kinds of Aces:
Those who seek strenght (Mercenary)
Those who live for pride - (Knight)
Those who can read the tide of battle (Soldier)
Those are the three...
And Him (Cipher)... he was a true ace"
So Pixy (the true canon indicator) considered, in 2005, Cipher a True Ace, meaning, he was all of those aces into one, meaning he was...
A Mercenary from the beginning of the war until the nukes
A Soldier from the nukes until PJ's death
A Knight from PJ's death until the end of the war!!!
The interview with gelb mercenarie style is a description of ac7 multiplayer
what I’m getting from this is
-Pixy
I always felt Soldier was the hardest ace style, especially when going for the Supreme Soldier medal. As a Knight you just avoid destroying yellow targets, as a Mercenary you just destroy everything, but as a soldier you have to destroy only some of the yellow targets. I always found it hard to determine how many I needed to destroy to keep the gauge in the center.
Honestly? I don't think that just because you don't meet Ashley/Grabacr, Bartlett, and Huckebein/Buchner/Pops in routes besides Mercenary, that it means the events surrounding those three characters don't happen. That's a faulty premise: being in different missions and facing different squadrons doesn't mean that Ashley doesn't shoot down Bartlett and Buchner, it simply means you weren't there to witness said events. Especially since, in the Mercenary path, you can take down Buchner yourself, which contradicts what's known in Ace Combat 5.
I don't think there IS any one canon interpretation of Cipher.
Wow! I'm glad I found you. I been looking for a channel about Ace Combat!
i didn't know there were different bosses depending if you were soldier or mercenary i thought i just had to go for knight
I believe the canon style changes, but at least in Mission 10, all of the named aces that depend on Ace Style, this is because in Mercenary, Pops/Huckebein the Raven, along with Ashley Bernitz, the future leader of Grabacr Squadron appear. In Soldier, Michael Heimeroth, the leader of Ofnir Squadron appears. This one is less apparent, but in the knight style, you shoot down an ace by the name of Erich Klinsmann, who is implied to be Yellow 13 from Ace Combat 04. Cipher changes from Mercenary to Mercenary/Soldier/Knight, to Soldier at Avalon, and a Knight in the battle with Pixy.
Yellow 13 name is "Dave Jordan"
thanks for making this video i pass the hole game and unlock all planes, but i didn´t know how to change my ace style, thanks for the info "buddy"
tks for this explanation. I really didn't note it till today.
I didnt know that I could hit a fighter with gun till turns him out a yellow target... damn, I wanna play it again!
Considering the whole king Arthur and the round table theme the game has going on, it'd be surprising if the Knight style WASNT Canon
I always did a thing where I would destroy any ground target even if it was yellow, but I would let crippled planes escape. Doing that, you still end up as a mercenary.
You know what this reminded me of, the Kestrel, 15 years of proud service, the most battle hardened ship even before the circum-pacific war, only to be sunk in the dying stages of the war. Though God as she went down she put up one heck of a fight launching the Razgriz and such but God I wish it gave me control of the plane there so I could strafe the crew of that God damn Yuke sub.
I Didn't realise the Ace Style changed the cutscenes and the squads you fight. Thanks
Love the presentation of this video
In Mission 2, on the Knight Route, Pixy says the following 'I don't think Cipher wants to do this' in reaction to all the yellow targets around. I don't know how this changes on other routes
Never Heard of How Dynamic The Game Campaign Is
Amazing for It’s Time
No Wonder This Game’s Aged so Great for What It Is
Great Coverage
Thank You
I like Soldier the best. Mercenary Cipher is a bloodthirsty killer who fights only for his own profit, while Knight Cipher is pretentious and fights for his own pride. Soldier Cipher, on the other hand, is a stoic badass who, in Pixy's words, can "read the tide of battle." He does what it takes to get the job done, no more and no less. His goal is simply to end the fighting and will do whatever is necessary to accomplish that.
Eu já joguei usando os 3 estilos, mas sempre preferi jogar usando o estilo Knight, por mais que estamos numa guerra e prefiro ser honrado com os inimigos evitando atacar alvos civis ou inimigos neutralizados, eu achei que era até complicado de juntar dinheiro mas joguei boa parte com o F-5, depois troquei pro Gripen e assim que liberou o F-15 eu novamente mudei de caça ( de maneira definitiva ) e sempre podia compra-los assim que os desbloqueava, o estilo Soldier também é interessante assim como o Mercenary, mas ainda sim prefiro jogar de forma honrada e justa por isso utilizo quase sempre o Knight como Ace Style.
Only issue I have with this is that in the mercenary path Cipher shoots down Huckebein, yet in AC5 one of the Grabacr squadron says he was the one who shot down Huckebein. I might just be misreading this but surely this means that the mercenary path isn't the most correct?
The way I see it, all of the paths are just how different pilots interpreted Cipher and thus how he flys depends on what pilot he faces. To those he fights on the Knight path see him as an honourable foe, for those he fights on the Mercenary path they see him as a dishonourable pilot, etc.
Mercenary path is canon, if you don't shoot Huckebein, Ashley will, just follow Huckebein and you'll see for yourself.
Literally had no idea that the ace meter changed the game. I was always a knight or soldier, but I definitely would have done a mercenary play through had I known
I think I finally got a question that isn't as lame as my previous one.
How is it possible for a plane to store so many missiles and special weapons?
the hardpoints have temporal pockets which store countless amounts of ammunition
Volans, Toa of Air Or more like RIDICULOUS BELKA TECHNOLOGY
maybe scientists in Strangereal world have mastered the 3D printing tech XD
They've mastered the technology in the Ant Man's suit, shrinking the distance between the nucleus and the electron cloud of the atom by reducing the relative charge. In theory, things could become infinitely small.
Star Trek style "replicator" technology built into the hardpoint rails.
That lovely Windwill has taking me down once
Wow...i never actually view the dialogue change on the Ace Meter(that's because i played on a JP version). But you menage so greacefull to explain the Canon that's make me play all the styles again
とても解りやすい動画でした！👍
I'd like to think it starts as soldier, becomes mercenary by the second battle of B7R, then maybe drops down to knight or soldier by games end
Amazing video, keep up the serie please.
It must be the mercenary one. On that one you encounter pops/hookebein. Also it makes more sense with the whole Razgriz story. Razgriz starts out as a demon who destroys (cipher) and after that is reborn as a hero (blaze).
I would think that all three paths happen at the same time. at least when it comes to the ace squadrons.
side note: just imagine the chaos that mission 10 would be with schnee, schwartz, and Silber all at once.
The hardest stile is the soldier one
I played on mercenary style then
I can 100% that mercenary are the most hard, especially sorcerer
So rum is the drink of choice for a Merc, whiskey for a Solly, and wine for a Knight. I don't drink anymore, but I find whiskey to go down the easiest for me. Canonically, I must have been a "Soldier Ace".
There're actually branching paths? I just shot everything that can be locked.
This game is basically like Undertale:
Knight = Pacifist
Soilder = Neutral
Mercenary = Genocide
@Tigran-Abazyan yeah, what i said is stupid, i'll delete my comment right away
i managed to actually get all three styles in a combat zero campaign when i was a kid and i agree the mercenary story line is really hard to complete through many trials and errors i managed to complete it on mercenary :)
After i saw this video, something came up to my mind, i wish we could get the Area 88 fighters for Ace Combat 7
HOLY SHIT I DIDNT KNOW THAT!!! I was only 9 or 10 years old when i first played that beautiful game. Somehow i managed to reach the ending and complete the game when i was really young. I am 17 now and this gave so much chills down my spine.
Mercenary is I would say canon mostly.
It fits his description mostly, a man lives by strength.
It depends on what you think is canon route and your playing style, but I would say mercenary as Mayhem is where Jack Bartlett appears and Huckebein, the bases of AC5 and Cipher him/her self is a mercenary.
It's him
I consider solder cannon because I want "Let the Victor be justice" to be cannon
You know... for the sole reason that you CAN kill pops in Mercenary style I'd say it's the least canon one, as we know Pops was NOT killed.
It's the only style that AC5 characters appear, but that doesn't make it canon. No-one said AC5 characters ever interacted with Cipher.
In fact the chances of those characters (including Pops) surviving in front of a Merc-style Cipher is so low that I think it is exactly this reason that suggests the Merc style is not canon.
Besides, what did the Journalist said? Those who met Cipher always wear a smile when they mentioned him. All of 'em gained something from the experience, even if they experienced fear, despair or even losing loved ones. I don't think a Bernitz who met Cipher would become the hatred-filled Grapacr leader we met in AC5.
I think the reason why there are different routes to begin with was that all records about Cipher was deleted, and the journalist, under Pixy's intro about "3 kinds of aces" came up with three different possible models of what kind of person Cipher could've been. Perhaps in the journalist's POV there's no canon, just three possibilities according to different accounts.
Another reason to not think of Merc style as canon is that this is a Japanese game.
Due to WWII issues, it'd be very problematic for a Japanese game to portray a bloodthirsty protagonist.
This is exactly the same reason why we have such anti-war-ish storylines in AC5 and AC7, as well as characters who question war and nation like Pixy, Tabloid (or whoever that questioned "it's because nations exist" in OP Three of a Kind), Nagase and Mihaly.
I didnt play the Merc route, is it really sure that he dies? Does something imply that? Couldnt he just eject?
My opinion? All of them, at the same time. Cipher is just that much of a badass.
What sort of threat does a windmill poses a threat to the player, I'm talking the one in Ace Combat .
I've always thought of the different ace styles and mission choices being canon. I mean, it's kinda like the game had certain limitations and they couldn't have fit everything in one singular route. And made it with different play styles and mission choices dictating the story