Zanobard Reviews

Soaring across the war-torn skies of Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown in centre stage is Keiki Kobayashi and team’s absolute powerhouse of a main theme, with its thunderous orchestral style surging through many an incredible action setpiece – including the standout “Daredevil” – in a score that overall makes you feel like you could take on absolutely anything.

Soaring is certainly the word I’d use to describe the score for Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, and that’s just scratching the surface. As you urge fighter jets across the sky in the game’s unrelentingly tense dogfights, dodging missiles and taking out as many enemies as you can – both in the air and on the ground – one thing that you’ll notice almost immediately is the music, and how unapologetically epic it is. For an impeccable example, we need look no further than Ace Combat 7‘s main theme (a piece which honestly is the reason this review exists, as it’s absolutely phenomenal) and it’s best rendition is through Standout Cue “Daredevil”, an action setpiece composed by the game’s primary composer Keiki Kobayashi. It opens in tension as wary electronic percussion and increasingly dramatic strings build towards surges of aggressive brass. As the music continues however this rising instrumentation, while still building in the background, then starts to give way to solo vocals. This sublimely hopeful voice – provided by talented vocalist Kiyoka Wada – then sings the opening notes of the main theme, with the aforementioned instruments starting to rally behind it as a result. From here tensions rapidly give way to sheer heroism, with the entire ensemble dramatically rising in triumph until the music then simply goes at just past the three minute mark, with Kiyoka’s voice holding nothing back in elevating the main theme to unbelievably grandiose heights. It’s a genuinely breathtaking moment, and the best thing? That’s only one track.

Indeed, the game’s full album is over a hundred cues and more than seven hours long, and it begins with “Skies Unknown” composed by Ryo Watanabe (a member of the game’s compositional team led by Kobayashi). A much more atmospheric piece overall, this gentler track floats with serene electronics and the distant sound of passing fighter jets for its ninety second runtime. The subsequent “Main Menu” (by Mitsuhiro Kitadani) then echoes with similarly tranquil ambience before the main theme returns on strings slowly rising in power through the back half of Kobayashi’s “Drag Racer”. Tense electronic percussion then simmers moodily for the composer’s “IUN Briefing”, though this doesn’t last for long as a much more optimistic electric beat and hopeful strings practically dance into centre stage for the lighter “Fort Grays Air Base Hangar”. Our first taste of proper action then arrives with “Charge Assault”; aggressive surges of electronics and imposing percussion set a tense pace in the track’s opening minute, building in both volume and intensity until a sudden powerfully heroic surge of brass and strings charges the main theme into centre stage for a triumphant (though sadly short) rendition. Quieting things back down, “444th Air Base” then sets a moodier tone as a guitar echoes rather forlornly against atmospheric background electronics.

A rising sense of orchestral grandeur builds through the five minute “Eastern Wind” with hints toward the main theme in tow, before a deep sense of electronic malevolence chases anxious strings across the fast-paced “Unmanned Craft”. An upbeat guitar and hopeful percussion then urge the main theme along in the softer “Dual Wielder” before composer Hiroshi Okubo takes the reins for “Two-Pronged Strategy” and “Tail Man”, with the former echoing some rather eerie ambience with rising synth and moody brass, and the latter kicking up the pace for a frenetic strings and drums-led action setpiece. A rather American-styled guitar is the focus of the Kobayashi-composed “Salty Lake”, with a dramatically heavy-metal esque style then overtaking for action cue “Rescue” as an electric guitar and emphatic drums take centre stage for the first half, and entertainingly fist-pumping electronics surge in the second. A high-pitched sense of vocal sorrow then opens “Friendly Fire” before rising orchestral tension leaps to the forefront, with action setpiece “444” – composed by Kitadani – seeing the return of the guitar alongside some increasingly aggressive electronics and brass. Composer Junichi Nakatsuru then lets loose a frantic pace with “Long Day” as an aptly thunderous electric guitar, brass and pounding percussion charge along for five grandiose minutes.

After a selection of more ambient, tensely mood-setting tracks, “Pipeline Destruction” – composed by Junichi Nakatsuru – returns to the aggressive action side of the score as enthusiastic drums thunder together with an upbeat electric guitar and additional strings. Deafening percussion-heavy tension is then the stylistic focus of “Three Of A Kind”, before Keiki Kobayashi returns for the anxiously strings-led “Identification” – with angry surges of brass and electronics giving chase throughout – and “Faceless Soldier”, where the main theme triumphantly soars once again on proudly grandiose brass and powerful drums opposite echoingly serene vocals. Worrisome hints toward said theme then echo tensely through the imposingly percussive “Transfer Orders” and “ADFX-10”. After a gentler though still quite militaristic ambience sets in through several subsequent “Briefing” and “Hangar” cues, a rather angelic voice sings the main theme in the first half of Kobayashi’s “Siren Song” opposite an enthusiastic electric guitar and similarly hopeful brass before a more aggressive mood once again overtakes the score in “Stonehenge Defensive” (by Tetsukazu Nakanishi) with frenetic strings and pounding drums ablast. Similar orchestral tensions are also abound in the first few minutes of the composer’s “Dragon Breath” before the main theme then heroically comes to the rescue on noble brass in the second half.

A pair of “Magic Spear” action cues – composed by Ryo Watanabe – up the ante for the next eight minutes, with the first entry surging enthusiastically along as an electric guitar leads a propulsive charge, and the second continuing in a similarly emphatic manner while also urging frantic strings and bursts of brass along too. Keiki Kobayashi then ushers the main theme back into centre stage for the fast-paced “Battle For Farbanti”, with the motif building in fiery orchestral intensity throughout the four minute cue until reaching an utterly glorious brassy crescendo towards the end. The action continues into the deep vocal-led “Sol Squadron” with a much more anxious toneb efore the score then settles slightly for the slower, more electronically atmospheric “Offline”. After an unusually downtrodden, piano-focused piece in “Tyler Island”, emphatic action returns in the Mitsuhiro Kitadani-composed “Homeward” with determined strings at the forefront layered on top of thudding drums and brass. Dramatic orchestral villainy however then arrives for the malevolent “Archange”, the theme for the game’s titular antagonist; deep yet almost angelic vocals open the Kobayashi- composed track before solemn strings and moody brass join from the minute mark. Higher-pitched, rather panicky vocals then also join the fray and an anxious action sequence rapidly ensues, with tense percussion continually urging the orchestral ensemble along all the way to a deafening final crescendo.

A proud sense of militaristic bravado descends with Mitsuhiro Kitadani’s percussive and electronic “LRSGG Briefing III”, with the subsequent “Lighthouse” elevating the mood with an upbeat action focus as energetic brass and strings soar. The main theme then returns rather resolutely in Kobayashi’s “Admiral Andersen” as determined brass and marching percussion rally behind an electric guitar before another standout action moment arrives with “Hush”; wary electronics open the track and set a tense pace to start, with thunderous brass, strings and angelic vocals quickly following to usher the main theme back into centre stage. The result is a powerfully heroic sequence where the theme just soars higher and higher with each passing second, and its absolutely phenomenal. The score then slows slightly with the more ambient, electronics-focused “Space Elevator” and the solemnly brassy “Dark Blue” before the main story comes to its conclusion with “Epilogue”; a gentle guitar strums in its opening minute alongside strings, evoking a sense of finally-attained peace and tranquility with the music then swelling in finality before fading to a quiet end.

The album’s not over yet however, as a number of bonus tracks are also included! The first highlights are from an expansive selection of arranged cues from previous Ace Combat games, with the triumphant action piece “Scramble” and the bombastic “Sentry’s Brunt” from Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies standing out first. A tremendously enthusiastic electric guitar and some very ’90s synth then lead an upbeat charge through “Fire Away”, “Fire Youngman” and “Aim High” from Ace Combat 2, with a superbly orchestral action setpiece following in “Fighter’s Honor” from Ace Combat 3D. Some absolutely impeccable vocal work – by Stephanie Cooke – then leads thunderous action in Ace Combat Infinity‘s “Blue Skies” with an electric guitar and grandiose synth flying triumphantly alongside, before heavy metal emphatically takes the musical reins in “Catch The Lightning” from the fifth game in the series. The propulsive “Zero” from Ace Combat Zero then closes the chapter on rearranged cues from prior games with soaring vocals and rapidly plucking strings, and the album moves back into Ace Combat 7 with “Mimic” being the first DLC content standout as it leaps energetically along with a metal-styled electric guitar. Keiki Kobayashi then returns to the fold with tense action cues “Awakening” and “Alicorn” with chanting vocals in centre stage opposite dramatic drums and strings, before the main theme then gives one last hurrah in the short but superbly epic “Conclusion” by Yukiko Miyagi.

Overall, Keiki Kobayashi and team have delivered an absolute powerhouse of a score for Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown. The star of the show is of course the memorable main theme which swoops and soars in unapologetically heroic form throughout the album, with highlights being triumphant action setpieces “Battle For Farbanti” and “Hush” – both of which make you feel like utter badasses when they appear in the game itself – as well as the standout “Daredevil”, one of the most jaw-droppingly epic pieces of game music that I’ve ever heard. A big part of what makes this genuinely glorious main theme work so well throughout the score too is the orchestral style, with blasts of grandiose brass, rumbles of militaristic percussion and surges of frenetic strings leading the charge. Vocals also form a key element, whether its in darker form through the score’s villain setpiece “Archange” or indeed in sing-your-heart-out style through “Daredevil” (courtesy of the very talented Kiyoka Wada). Outside of the sheer heroism, we also get a number of tense mood setters and electronics-focused ambient setpieces, which help to break up the constant orchestral barrage a bit (as at seven hours long, it does get a little grating after a while) as well as an amazing treat in a number of re-arranged tracks from previous Ace Combat games. Highlights include the sublimely electric guitar heavy “Aim High” from Ace Combat 2, the heroically orchestral “Fighter’s Honor” from Ace Combat 3D and the gorgeously vocal-led “Blue Skies” from Ace Combat Infinity.

All-in there’s so much to love here, and Ace Combat 8 isn’t too far away now either!

Score: 8.5/10

Standout Cues: Daredevil, Battle For Farbanti, Hush, Long Day, Blue Skies

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