S rank tips & tricks

[minh2t]

Got the platinum today and is really isn't as bad as the Trophy Guide indicate. I'd say it much closer to 6/10 Difficulty and 60-75 hours. So I'm truly hoping my thread will motivate players to give this game a try as it aged really well and is still very much enjoyable 15 years later. Don't let the 9/10 difficulty from trophy guide scare you off!

 

1. It is better to start the game with Arcade mode instead of going straight into the story. Arcade mode is set in Normal difficulty, which can easily be cleared for players with some experiences with airplane games. If it proves too hard for beginners, you can fail the first stage of Arcade mode, save your game AND still unlock the F-22 Raptor in Story mode, which is one of the top airplane in the game. By the time you get to Mission 5 in Story Mode which unlocks the hangar, you'll have enough credit to purchase the F-22 right of the bat and give you a huge advantage and thus getting S ranks easier early on.

 

2. It is not necessary to play in Campaign mode after your first playthrough, it actually is easier to play in Free Mission so you aren't restricted in choosing your best airplanes on some missions that only allows Carrier-based jets or the first few missions where you would normally be locked on the F-5. Some of the 2-part missions has the 1st part easier with Ground Special Weapons and 2nd part with Anti-Air Special Weapons, where in Story Mode you would be stuck with the same airplane for both parts. Clearing all missions with S ranks in Free Missions does award the trophy associated with it's difficulty. You may only need to do New Game SP and get to mission 5 to re-unlock the hangar so you'll be able to spend your credits and purchase new planes, afterward it is better to go to Free Mission entirely.

 

3. Unlocking the FALKEN, an airplane that shoots one-hit kill lasers, which makes Ace difficulty a breeze and the reason why I believe the platinum should only be 6/10 in terms of difficulty. To unlock the Falken, you need to destroy 5 Hangar hidden in 5 different stages, this can be done in any difficulty. Once those 5 Hangars are destroyed, the FALKEN becomes available for purchase for 826,000 credits. It's a lot but you can gather more than that amount after clearing Normal & Hard difficulty (sell some of your aiplanes if you're missing credit), thus having the FALKEN available for your Expert and Ace playthrough.

 

The Hangars are hidden in stages:

12a Powder Keg

12b Four Horsemen

16a Desert Arrow

16b Desert Lightning

27 Aces

 

Here is a link to screenshots I've took of each Hangar: https://imgur.com/a/CJv4kgK

 

They usually don't appear in your radar until you are close to their location. AWACS Thunderhead will say: "Mechanical parts discovered in destroyed enemy facility. We'll have the ground forces retrieve them later." whenever you destroy one of the hangar.

 

4. Don't worry about the reply you choose when Chopper asks about the Back of the Coin song, you can play the alternative mission via Free Mission. You don't need to select it to unlock it or anything.

 

I'm hoping this helps players toward the platinum, feel free to post more tips and tricks.

Edited January 28, 2019 by minh2t

[SlyAceZeta]

If you have so much of an issue with my guide, you could have simply commented on it with your feedback. That's what the guide comments are for

 

I avoided suggesting the FALKEN because it's unnecessary to unlock for the Platinum and costs a lot of credits. Some players may not get nearly enough credits even after two playthroughs. Keep in mind that we have to talk to people who have never played an Ace Combat game before. Ace difficulty S ranks, even with the FALKEN, are in no way, shape, or form a 6/10 difficulty. That's only the case if you've been playing these games for years and you know everything inside and out.

 

I'll work on adding some of your suggestions to the guide, but again, if you had so many problems with it, the guide comments section is right there.

[minh2t]

I actually am taking in consideration new players, the FALKEN breaks the game that much, it simply is point and shoot, it seems to have 3 times the range of normal missiles so you can use it without getting shot at. It shoots for a considerable amount of time, in which you can vaporize multiple target using only L1 and R1 to change your angle with no fancy flying. 

 

It literally destroys the SOLG in a few seconds, same with the Scinfaxi in mission 7 and also the Hrimfaxi in mission 13.

 

The point of my thread is not to personally attack your Trophy Guide, sorry if it seemed that way, I am only trying to give information players can use. I know some trophy hunters will shy away from hard or long games, so I felt the need to address that point and give my opinion on that matter.

 

Another tip for new players, you can hold L1 + R1 to set the plane on auto-pilot, if you do this for just a few seconds, you'll level your plane and reset your angle. I don't think this was mentionned in the Tutorial.

 

edit: Credit isn't much of an issue either, you can easily farm credit using mission 19 Final Option or mission 21 Solitaire. Once you get the hang of either mission, you can S rank them and gain tons of credit.

Edited January 28, 2019 by minh2t

[DEATHWISH1988REF]

hi everyone 

 

on expert and ace i use ( F-22   -   Falken -   MIG1.44  -  )

 

some mission are time specific based  like Hrimfaxi  - Arc bird 2 

 

i'm so glad that i'm currently trying to platinum this game , and im doing it back to back with the OG PS2 version ?

 

ill be showcasing my playthrough on normal and upwards if the PS4 game capture works with PS2 ports such as this game   

 

since i'm going all out with it why why not show it to the world 

 

HEY ?!  will we see 4 n zero getting the same treatment  THAT WOULD BE AWESOME ?