you can tell pretty easily that this game was made with heart, the story is perfectly narrated, one of my favourite game ever

Yellow 13 pulls off being one of the most sympathetic characters in video games without even knowing his true thoughts or even his *VOICE.*

The narrators matter of fact apathetic tone makes this story feel all the more real. There's just no way you can really describe the horrors of war.

I like to imagine that as they were transferred to San Salvacion, Yellow 13 paid a visit to the house that one of his kills crashed into so he could pay his respects to the civilians who had died there and found singed sheets of music in the remains, and that was why he was playing a song familiar to the boy.

When I was a little kid, civil war broke in my home country. Our town was obliterated and I lost family members... Until the very day war reached us... I just thought it was something that was happening in some far away place. Even when my dad was training us on how to use gas masks... We used to run around laughing while wearing them thinking they were cool. My uncle, my father's twin brother, decided to join the fight, bit since my dad was married and had kids he decided to flee. My uncle died defending our hometown... but we never recovered his body. When I first booted this game many years ago the opening literally had me frozen in place. I never felt a game as deeply as this. It 100% captivated me. The music, the stoic style storytelling... The sentiment that felt extremely relatable. I know for many this is just another great game. But for me it was cathartic. Every now and then I replay the game or watch the scenes. La Catedral was the first piece I ever learned in its entirety on guitar. So yeah... This game has a special place in my heart :)

The best AC in terms of storytelling.

I love Yellow 13, probably my favorite enemy pilot of any Ace Combat game.

The word "beautiful" is insufficient for describing this masterpiece

I like to think that right before that final missile hit Yellow 13, he closed his eyes and smiled. Not a solemn smile, but a broad one filled with pride. He wanted to find his better in the air, and he got his wish.

a very underrated storyline in the world of video games in my opinion. and also a great art style.

wish that ace combat has an anime

Is this extremely relaxing to anyone else?

makes you like the yellows and makes you shoot em down that was intense

Should've used Mobius 1's F22A Raptor. It was the most iconic part of him.

I never really appreciated this game when I was younger the way it deserved. I've been playing games for the past 13 years or so (since I was about 4) and of the hundreds of games I've played, I've come to realize that I've never found a game that managed to humanize the enemy like they did. Yellow thirteen had so much depth to him put into so little time looking back now I even see him, the nemesis-type character as actually the main character of the game and the player is more of a supporting role in his story This game is truly a masterpiece in my opinion and anyone can disagree with me but I'm not changing my mind anytime soon

Out of all the games I've played Yellow 13 has got to be hands-down the best antagonist I've ever come up against.

Yellow 13 the only Hostile Ace we all didn't felt any hatred or grudge, but more of a Rivalry and envy. Yellow 13 is a real hero of AC04

Yellow 13 was one of the few enemy Ace's in Ace Combat that fully had my admiration. It was helped by his main role in the cut scenes. I just couldn't hate him, as a matter of fact, I came to love Yellow 13.

"So that's Stonehenge." I still remember hearing that every time I restarted that mission from dying.

Yellow 13... During Siege of Farbanti, I had the last surviving Yellow in my crosshairs, missile locked and all... and then my thumb wouldn't press Circle and kill him. I wasted some good 5 minutes, hesitating, acquiring and losing locks, until I was finally able to force myself into shooting Thirteen down. That's why I love this game. He's the enemy, but I simply couldn't bring myself to kill him like the others. He was special, he was different. Unlike others who called Mobius One a demon or a monster, he'd always praise the ISAF ace. And that retribuition just made this game.

"It no longer mattered to me whether that was Thirteen or Fours grave, Their memories blurred together as one and left the realm of reality like a dream" Got me in tears.....what a great story, one of my top 5 games of all time.

I just realized yellow 13 was inspired by Char Aznable from gundam and yellow 4 is lalah sune. The way they’re designed, and their relationship

This game helped inspire me to pursue a career in the Airforce currently joining AFROTC hopefully i will be permitted to flight school

I remember I was 5 when I beat this game. When I realized when I shot down Yellow 4 in Stonehenge, I was absolutely devastated and filled with guilt. Never had a game do something like that to me. Amazing storytelling

even tho its just pictures, this storytelling is grand. the use of the soundboard to drown out the narrator with the sounds of war at moments, gives me the chills every time. if you have ever been in a high pressure situation where its so loud you cant even think.. this effect really hits home for me idk why.

My absolute favorite title from the PS2 lineup. Somedays I debate on purchasing a working console and getting the game from my parents house so that I can play it one more time.

I vastly prefer this story to the others in the series (except maybe Zero, it's a REALLY close second). I like how subdued it is and I like that its both from the perspective of a civilian during the war and the main "antagonist" of the story. Mobius gets his time to shine during the missions, but the fact that the story in the cutscenes is more about the impact he's having on the average people and his opponents is great. It's also an effective way of having us care about Yellow Squadron without having them talk to us directly. Which, by the way, this is the only one of the modern AC games where the main villain squadron never once talks to your character directly. You never have Yellow 13 go off in a monologue about how he will defeat you or the nature of man. He just talks to his men and that's it. I actually like that better. It makes me feel like he's taking you seriously by not distracting himself with pointless syndrome monologuing. I can understand that many people prefer the more character oriented stories of later games, but for one, I would argue this story is very character focused, just not on your character or his allies. And for second, the detached view of the story adds further melancholy to everything. What I can't get are those who call the story "boring" or "dull." That I feel has to be coming from a lack of understanding.

Yellow 13 was a true anti villain, a Knight Ace.

This game has censorship in the American version. Minute 7:49 The kid was holding a gun, and showed also a knife, He had the intention of using it against 13 10:10 The girl was holding a shotgun 19:00 The boy was aiming 13 with his gun. In case you didn' t know, you also can search info about it and confirm by yourself.

"War was just a thing happening in a far away land we would see in television" that is so accurate and spot on in 2022. This game predicted the mood of the first 30 years of the 21st century. Together with metal gear solid this game is one of the most accurate predictions of war in 21st century

I remember shooting down the Yellow squadron for the first time. I was in an F-14 and had already shot away all my missiles and had to shoot them all down with my gun. This brought back so many memories, thanks for the upload.

Such an amazing game. One of my favorites on the PS2. The story is just incredible. Excellent commentary on the horrors of warfare. My favorite part is when the narrator is confronted by 13 and says "get out of our town you fascist pig!" Very heartbreaking.

The level design and storytelling of this game was what kept me invested in the franchise, too bad ac7 couldn't keep up nearly as well.

Bought this game used when I was around 14, the game was fun, but this story never left my memory.

That final mission, where you are now the boss fight for a rookie yellow squadron, is just amazing.

Chills when the music cuts out on your last lock on.

Very artistic.... The end was very emotive...

This game was the most memorable one from my childhood. The story and music is burned into my memory. I come to this video to relive those good memories. I wish I still had my PS2.

My first Ace Combat is 7 (still playing it), but the nods to past games' lore and the stories other people tell about their experiences with them, plus the music, made me run and look for 4, 5 and Zero. After looking for them, I finally found a single package containing the PS2 entries. Currently playing 4.

Heard of "The Ghost of Kyiv" and remembered the game.

Most of the Ace Combat campaigns are overly whimsical and often pushing on cringe (golden king, pacifist princess, etc.), but this story always stuck with me because of how coldly grounded it was. No sugarcoating, no ridiculous fantasy nonsense, no crazy events that pull you out of the story, just the reality of war for someone living through it. The writers deserve a lot of credit for keeping this one storyline from this one linear game burned into my head for 20 years.

Haven't played this game in years, but this video brought back good memories. I don't think I ever even fully understood the story when I played this.

What a fucking story.

13 what a student he was

1:25 Until now, that child's head still bothers me.

I've never even played the game and I already am feeling the feels...

Thank you for uploading this, I plan on transcribing the introduction. I really enjoyed planing Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies, it was a big part of my childhood. I would replay the game several times. The ending always made me tear up. The whole story pretty much consisted of him writing this letter to Mobius 1, the pilot that shot down the Yellow that killed his family. Now the author has a his own family after the war is over.

I got into this game as part of a hunt for an arcade game at Chuck E Cheeses believe it or not. I watched my dad play that cheap big-box arcade game in an F-15 Active shooting down low polygon bombers and thought "hey I want to play that game" so I went looking for any game that came close to it. I stumbled on Ace Combat 4 at a local Hollywood Video and rented it. What came next was one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had. Nothing ever came close except for later entries into this franchise. I can vividly remember the joy filled afternoons plowing through missions as my mom watched Dr Phil and Oprah Winfrey in the other room at 4 PM. What was even cooler is that as I played through this game, the dates in certain operations coincided with actual dates in real life as the game took place in 04-05 but was released two years prior to those dates thereby adding an additional immersion factor. Some of my best childhood memories were made playing this game. I remember one Halloween night in October was spent flying through the mountains of Los Canos as trick-or-treaters came to the door. I remember other nights replaying my favorite missions while watching Hot Wheels Acceleracers on the tube TV. Anyone remember that really nice HD Sony Tube TV? The ones that go for almost $1k? Yeah I had one of those and was able to experience the full glory of Ace Combat 4 on that thing back in the day. Man, early 2000s were a good time.

Funny how such a monotone voice draws so much emotion.

Miss this damn game...use to play nothing but main missions and never really use to play online....this shit just brings back memories

How did I not realize that yellow 4 and 13 are unlucky numbers. It's kinda ironic since what ends up happening to them

This is probably the ace combat game that made me cry. The narrarator was amazing

I read so many comments about people engaging in their country's air force or carrer as aircraft engineer because of this game... Project Ace should be really proud of this.

How they went from this great storytelling to the horrendous dialogue of AC7 I'll never know.

This. this is the reason as a child and still now, i strive to be in the airforce. i remember this game so vividly, the heroism but also the inhumanity of the war.. it made you feel as if you were the hero, all of the ground units, in awe of your shimmering wings. the enemy airman, all filled with hate.... except for 13..

The irony of the pilot who killed the narrator's parents inviting him to play a song together, the same song his now-dead father used to play. Without knowing it, he was paying them a tribute. Poignantly poetic. One of my favorite stories of any video game.

This game has a very special place in my heart. The narration, the story, me at 11 yrs old in Brooklyn in the early 2000’s staying up late playin this. Ahhh. What the f is life.

Thank you for compiling and uploading this. This game meant a lot to mean when I was young.

15:29 Literally how everyone won that mission. Yellow 4 flying straight into your missiles like a friggen idiot.

This was my favorite Ace Combat game.

I would willing pay for a full remastered of this game.

I thought of this when images started coming in of the Russian invasion on Ukraine.

Ahhh I feel the nostalgia coursing through my veins. What a classic game

This is one of the best videogame stories ever told. It's so simple and subtle. I'm glad there are people out there that remember this game, though not as many as I would hope.

This game, i love the concept, you are doing missions on a plane fighting a war, and between missions you see this story of civilians suffering the war to make you feel attached, to make you think about all the war, destruction and responsability

Thank you so much for posting this ! bring me back to high school days.

this was far ahead of its time

After 20 years, this story keep making me cry. Best story in absolute

Watching in 2020 and still remember how this was the best story and emotional game play of all the AC games. And why is this not in cockpit!?

I played this game allll the time when i was a teenager. Now Im 26 learning all the classical acoustic songs on it.

This story had my eyes swelling with tears at it's disposal. The nostalgia is way too much.

It’s hard to fight back tears when megalith is playing the music is so beautiful

I can’t believe I really just watched this whole thing this morning. This was one of my all time favorite games I played as a young kid and the game that no doubt sparked my interest in aviation and made me become a pilot after high school

Better story than a lot of Anime.

thank you PS2, thank you AC4 you have brought me to AC7 which i just purchased.

I follow all of AC from PS1, and AC4 is one of the best. The story line, graphic, background music and the actual fighter jet fighting simulation game bring the most entertaining PS game can offer. Its the reason I still keep the PS2 console and AC4 game in my possession.

I played the hell out of this back in 2002. Great times, simpler times.

One of the most emotional games ever made.

Played when I was a child. Now I'm older and I realize that the scenes describe (too) precisely what really happens during a war (daily life in war time, relationship between civilian/invader/military, sabotage, resistance etc...). It's terrifying

Thank you just thank you for this

This was the best Ace Combat I have ever played. Amazing story.

Coming back to this every once in a while, to reexperience the game and revive the IRL memories of the times back then.

Used to play this game when I was a child, only finished it when I was about 15. Ten years later still the best plot and storytelling I ever saw in a videogame

War sucks... At least now... Yellow 13 & 4 can be together again as the war is finally over for them.... They can now show love for each other in peace up in the blue heavens where they belong once again.

hopefully 22:26 is something we'll see again in real life for Ukraine and its people

Ace Combat can tell a totally ridiculous story about a war caused by a space cannon and make it into the most poignant and authentic story ever put into a videogame.

Briefing: "Remember, we need heroes after the war too" General Clemens: "I'm not so sure about that"

"What once killed asteroids now kills assholes"

Bro the start of this is my childhood i cried first watching the first cutscene at 8 yr old lol

No game has had so much heart poured into it that I've ever played

Amidst the blue skies, a link from past to future. The sheltering wings of the protector... The flames of hatred scorch the skies... igniting Gaia's funeral pyre.

Damn, I think I got this game with my PS2 for Christmas wayy back then. I was too young to pay much attention to the story other than the opening cinematic. But I remember the narration and art style. Also how badass Yellow squadron was, took me several trys on the first encounter lol. Mobius 1, fox 2!

Thanks for posting this. makes me want to buy an old PS2.

Ace combat 4 is by far my favorite game. Still nostalgic to this day

These games have such unique storytelling

The music in this sounds really good.

Just discovered this game because I was looking at Mangoré videos, from people who discovered Mangore thanks to this game

God I loved these old Ace Combat games..

2020 and my mind still finds itself reminiscing of yellow 13

By far (AC4) the best outta the ace combat series ever.