153: Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War (with MarcoMeatball)

Sometimes I think I know about video games, and then a series that I'd been ignoring for years absolutely blows me away. Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War (Namco, 2004) is one of those games. Exhilerating air combat, the best spectacle that the PS2 could offer, and a grand and amazing soundtrack all set the hooks, then a surprisingly good story pulls you along for the ride. I'm truly flourishing in my new Ace Combat arc, and this is the first of many Ace Combat episodes on the show. Guest info: MarcoMeatball- find him on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@MarcoMeatball) and Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/marcodmeatball.bsky.social)! TIMESTAMPS * Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 0:30 * Story Setup 15:45 * Music/Visual Presentation 30:16 * Gameplay 51:38 * Closing Thoughts/Housekeeping/Guest Plugs 1:06:21 * SPOILER WALL 1:18:46 Music used in the episode: * The Unsung War (Keiki Kobayashi) * First Flight (Keiki Kobayashi) * Ghosts of Razgriz (Junichi Nakatsuru) * Wardog (Tetsukazu Nakanishi) * Briefing 1 (Keiki Kobayashi) * The White Noise (Keiki Kobayashi) * The Journey Home (Katsuro Tajima) Support Tales from the Backlog on Patreon! (https://patreon.com/realdavejackson) or buy me a coffee on Ko-fi (https://ko-fi.com/realdavejackson)! Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server! (https://discord.gg/V3ZHz3vYQR) Social Media: BlueSky (https://bsky.app/profile/tftblpod.bsky.social) Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/talesfromthebacklog/) Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://www.instagram.com/jackallencaricatures/ and his other pages (https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures)