They would never fully heal, just as ours would not, if we were in his place. While the wounds of the Continental War had started to heal by the time he wrote his letter to Mobius 1, his own wounds hadn't. War is hell, and it is a scourge we should work to end.'

Though it seemed like a lifetime ago, he has not forgotten - and will never forget - the events of September 2004 to September 2005, and neither should we.

The stoicism shown by the narrator during the interludes tells us, the player and viewer, that while the world has moved on, he has not. The narrator was only a child, when the stars fell from the sky, when the nation to the west had invaded, and when the war had ended. The narrator didn't sign up to fight, as Wardog, Garuda, Gryphus and Trigger had.

What makes AC04's anti-war message so effective is that it is told not from the perspective of the soldier, but rather that of the innocent. AC04 is about the perverse effect war has on the youth of the world, how war is an abstract idea to those far away from its grip, and a living nightmare to those who live within. It was about a young boy from San Salvacion, writing his memoir to the only pilot to best Yellow 13. It wasn't about an ace pilot who changed history, only to disappear into its annals, as Cipher had. It wasn't about an advanced AI created with the sole purpose of killing the digital manifestation of one singular person, as Nemo was. It wasn't about a ragtag fighter squadron shoved face-first into a world war, as Wardog were. It wasn't about a mercenary who overcame impossible odds, as Phoenix and Scarface 1 had. 'What made AC04 so good, and what helped it age so well, now twenty one years on, was how personal it felt. In a whirlwind, stream of consciousness moment, I wrote down the following: So, I watched a bit of Eldestsucubus's Ace Combat 04 video, the aptly titled, 'Why was Ace Combat 4 so good?' the other day, and the title alone was enough to make me think.

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