ACE Academy is a slice-of-life, story-centric comedy game with elements of dating-sim; fully voiced and extensively interactive!
In the year 2049, mechanized robots commonly called GEAR were developed for military application. Since then, their versatile functionality has led them to not only become commonplace in commercial use, but also spawned an entire sports entertainment industry. The prevalent use and popularity of GEARs has created a new academic field known as “Cenorobotics”. Due to unforeseeable circumstances, the protagonist finds himself transferring to ACE Academy, a premier school for Cenorobotics studies in Japan. He struggles to find a team willing to accept him and his outdated “American” GEAR to compete in the intramural tournament.
| LANGUAGE | AUDIO | SUBTITLES | INTERFACE |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Y | Y | Y |
What a waste of talent from the creators side.
Ace Academy was one of the VN I managed to play out, like literally I have tried over 15 LN and not one got my attention to outplay it.
This was no other in aspect to skipping some of the dialogue tbh but 80% I didn't skip thats a big word from me.
Pixelfade even made sick animations when talking to the charachters which kind of keept me playing, that story of the "robots" was ok, the view stayed more on the romance for me since because I am a man and I wanted to catch 'em all.
Fly high Pixelfade! May you not fade!
Get these games now why you have a chance as you know pixelfade is retiring some of their games, which is very sad to see, they are very good visual novels I'm not a big fan of them but after playing this I brought all of pixelfades games after, English dub is great to, also so many waifus to pick out and so many routes to pick which is highly replayable if you can buy the bundle you get all of there works and help supporting a very small nice independent studio, I can't forget the important one which is the art and backgrounds everything about this studio is peak, good bye pixelfade the games you guys made have truly helped me and a lot of people who played it
One of my first and favorite VN's. I lost myself in it's world of mechs, GEARs, and school girls back when I stumbled upon Pixelfade as a teenager, and here I am in my mid-late twenties smiling back on those times. This and Crystalline fully brought me into VN's and I will always cherish ACE for that, and Shou, great guy.
Also Yuuna is still best girl
ACE Academy is a character-driven visual novel that blends slice-of-life storytelling, light science fiction, and romantic drama into a cohesive and approachable experience. Developed and published by PixelFade, the game presents itself as a school-life narrative set in a near-future world where mechanized combat robots have evolved from military tools into competitive sporting icons. Rather than focusing on large-scale conflict or dystopian themes, the game centers on personal growth, relationships, and the challenge of finding one’s place in an unfamiliar environment, giving it a grounded and relatable emotional core despite its futuristic setting.
The story follows a transfer student arriving at the prestigious ACE Academy, an institution dedicated to training pilots for competitive GEAR combat. From the beginning, the protagonist is positioned as an outsider, burdened by past setbacks and stuck with outdated equipment that immediately marks him as different from his peers. This sense of displacement drives much of the early narrative, as the player navigates social awkwardness, team dynamics, and the pressure to prove themselves in a highly competitive academic culture. The academy setting serves as both a literal and symbolic arena, where personal confidence, trust, and teamwork are just as important as technical skill.
The game’s greatest strength lies in its cast of characters and the way interactions are handled. Each major character is distinct, with their own motivations, insecurities, and interpersonal conflicts, and the writing does a strong job of balancing humor with sincerity. Dialogue choices allow players to shape how relationships develop, influencing friendships and potential romantic paths in ways that feel meaningful rather than purely cosmetic. While the overall plot follows a linear structure, these branching interactions give the experience replay value and encourage players to explore different emotional outcomes.
Romance routes are integrated naturally into the narrative rather than existing as isolated side content. Emotional connections develop gradually through shared experiences, conversations, and moments of vulnerability, making the romantic arcs feel earned. Even outside of romance, the game places significant emphasis on friendship and teamwork, reinforcing the idea that success at the academy is not an individual pursuit. This focus helps maintain narrative cohesion and prevents the story from feeling like a collection of disconnected character routes.
Presentation is another area where ACE Academy stands out, especially considering it was PixelFade’s debut title. Character artwork is clean and expressive, rendered in high resolution with attention to subtle facial expressions that enhance emotional scenes. The inclusion of full English voice acting adds depth to the dialogue and helps bring the characters to life, making interactions feel more personal and engaging. The soundtrack supports the tone well, shifting between upbeat tracks for school-life moments and more subdued compositions during reflective or dramatic scenes without ever overpowering the narrative.
That said, the game is not without its shortcomings. Pacing can feel uneven, particularly in the latter portion of the story, where certain plot threads resolve more quickly than expected. Some players may find the conclusion less satisfying than the buildup, as the ending can feel abrupt or open-ended depending on the route taken. These issues do not undermine the overall experience, but they do highlight the game’s nature as an early work, where ambition occasionally outpaces execution.
From a gameplay perspective, ACE Academy adheres closely to traditional visual novel conventions. There are no complex systems or mini-games beyond dialogue choices, and progression depends entirely on reading, decision-making, and managing save points to explore alternate paths. For fans of the genre, this simplicity is a strength, allowing the focus to remain on story and character development. Players looking for more mechanical variety, however, may find the interactivity limited.
Overall, ACE Academy succeeds as a heartfelt and polished visual novel that emphasizes character relationships, personal growth, and the quiet drama of everyday life within a futuristic setting. While it may not redefine the genre or deliver a perfectly paced narrative, it offers a warm, engaging experience that resonates through its writing and cast. As both a standalone title and a foundation for PixelFade’s later works, it remains a solid and enjoyable entry for players who appreciate story-driven games with romance, humor, and a strong sense of character focus.
Rating: 9/10
Yes.
One of the better English visual novels that avoids [i]some[/i] of the weirdness that might make standard translated visual novels unpalatable for some people.
The characters initially reflect common tropes, but have a personal flair and reveal emotional depth. They're expressive and reactive to player choices.
The dialogue isn't unwieldy, but relatively natural, humorous, and a little creative at times.
It's a sci-fi slice of life mecha with humor and good characters. One of the few games where I've done multiple routes.
As a friend said, "it made me laugh."
👍
I'm not even sure where to start with Ace Academy.
This is probably my favorite Pixelfade game, hell it's probably in my top 5 VN
It isn't the best, I won't be that biased. Some of the references kind of date it
But it's characters are great and you'll probably find one you'll get attached to.
Overall I give it an astonishing 5/5 despite it short comings it makes up for it in everyway.
It makes me genuinely sad knowing this and other PixelFade gems will be delisted someday and that the studio isn’t making games anymore. ACE Academy is quite possibly the best western visual novel I've ever played. High recommend at full price.
ACE Academy is one of those games you finish and immediately wish you could experience again for the first time.
The characters feel genuinely alive, the humor actually lands, and the choices matter enough that you start second-guessing yourself in the best way. The mix of slice-of-life moments, mecha action, and wholesome character routes kept me hooked way longer than I expected.
What surprised me most is how naturally the story pulls you in. It’s lighthearted when it should be, emotional when it counts, and never drags. If you enjoy visual novels with charm, personality, and a cast you’ll actually remember, this one’s an easy recommendation.
Honestly? One of the most enjoyable VN experiences I’ve had on Steam.
As melhores 12 horas da minha vida, ambientação, personagens, musicas, ARTE! AS ARTES DO ROBÔS ESTAVAM LINDAS QUE TRABALHO MARAVILHOSO, é uma pena que não tiveram muitas mas as que tinham eram todas muito bem feitas, vou ver que tipo de "aventuras" eu posso ter com as outras personagens(tirando a yuuna que foi minha primeira escolha sem nem pensar duas vezes) mas já valeu a pena cada centavo.
ACE Academy is a very well made dating sim visual novel that feels like a lot of love went into it. This is probably one of the few true high quality western produced dating sims.
The game takes place in a futuristic school environment with mechas, and you build your relationship with multiple female classmates. Although the overarching story is nothing too exciting and mostly linear, the choices are actually meaningful for the relationships/certain events. The dialogue is pretty well written, and you can tell the writers knew what they were doing. There are plenty of witty remarks, references, and a more "western" tinge for some writing/humor (vs japanese style writing). The game is also fully voice acted (English only though), and I think the VAs really did a great job. I especially liked Valerie and Shou's VAs. All the art/character portraits were also very well made, and the music was very solid. The only gripe I have with the game is that the ending felt like it was a bit rushed, and we didn't see a more satisfying resolution for an overhanging plot point.
Overall, solid dating sim that grew on me more and more as I played it. I would recommend the game to anyone who likes dating sims, and I look forward to playing the other games by PixelFade.
This game was great and deserves a remake with the lessons they learned from their newer games. And any criticisms we had of this game can be addressed and things expanded upon.
From what I've seen in trying to pursue Mayu's route Kaori is not a tsundere, she's a toxic ♥♥♥♥♥. Story revolving around her completely ruined the experience for me
I'm gonna be honest. I really enjoyed this visual novel. It combined one of my favorite sci-fi tropes (mechs) with a dating simulator and a really good story. I would recommend this game to anyone interested in visual novels.
It's ok
peak academy
If you play ACE Academy focusing only on the main story without getting into the romances, it's honestly pretty mid. The plot alone isn't strong enough to carry the game, and the ending... well... what ending? Nothing to write home about.
But it gets significantly better if you start messing around with people. Choosing the funny options and just enjoying the banter. The characters become more entertaining, and the experience overall feels more engaging and fun.
Where ACE Academy really shines to me is in its romance. The character arcs are completely missiable if you’re not focusing on them, but if you do engage with them, they can be surprisingly heartfelt and rewarding.
That said, not all the routes are created equal. It’s pretty clear to me that one girl got the developer’s full attention, with significantly more depth and polish than some of the others. It doesn’t ruin the experience, but it does make some of the other routes feel a bit underwhelming in comparison. Or it could just be me being biased.
Also, as you restart to try different routes, the game starts to feel repetitive really fast. A lot of scenes and structure are reused, so chasing every romance feels super tedious even with the skip button.
ACE Academy has great humor, heartfelt moments, and pretty solid romance. The music is pretty good and fits the mood well, but I do wish the art quality was a bit more aesthetically pleasing. As for the ending—it didn’t really land for me. It felt like the season just stopped midway without proper closure. Still, despite its flaws, I genuinely enjoyed my time with it.
8/10.
esta bonito
虽然画风有点奇怪，而且确实挺贫寒的，但是声音蛮好听，并且是少有的英文配音gal，作为英语学习材料还算过得去
played it like 8 years ago but I finished it so it's prolly good
Думаю, я прошёл или дропнул все хоть сколько-нибудь качественные визуальные новеллы на англо-русском языке. Не могу сказать, что это самая сильная внка из всех пройдённых, наверное она не войдёт даже в топ 5, но это первая игра, которую я покупаю в магазине после того, как успешно прошёл на пиратке, первая из тысячи пройденных.
В моём представлении это всё же что-то говорит о её качестве.
Собственно, вот мой короткий отзыв, который я оставил пару лет назад:
Неожиданно очень сильная игра.
+
1)Юмор шедеврален
2)Персонажи хорошие
3)Повседневность неожиданно достаточно интересна, чтобы не было особо заметно отсутствие явной сюжетной линии. Вся игра это чисто повседневность
4)Интересные выборы с некоторыми последствиями.
5)Прекрасная озвучка
6)Valerie
-
1)Отсутствие сюжета в привычном его представлении.
Жаль лишь, что следующая игра от студии мне не очень понравилась.
The ending is a bit rushed but it's still good, the characters are all really likeable and the jokes are on point. It's not all jokes though and the novel does also get emotional at times. Plus, when the credits rolled it was quite bittersweet.
You get a wide variety of choices too, so (for example) the MC can either be a pervy idiot or an intuitive hardworker, really depends on what you pick.
Overall, 7.5/10, 8/10 when including Kaori's After Story.
Is it the best visual novel or interactive story out there? No, not by a long shot. However, is it a fun and well-made experience? Absolutely.
The story may be fairly cheesy and filled with typical manga/anime romance tropes, with a touch of sci-fi mech added for good measure. Its still a resalable story in its genre. You'll encounter all the classic stereotypes, from the goofball to the super shy girl, and more.
The visuals, while not the most breathtaking, are perfectly adequate for the style chosen and contribute to the overall charm of the game.
One of the standout features is the plethora of choices available to the player. While it's not always clear how these choices impact the story beyond affecting a hidden metric of how much an NPC likes you, it still add a fun layer of engagement that keeps the experience fresh.
Do I recommend this game? Yes, definitely. It's a delightful experience for fans of visual novels, dating sims, and/or manga-inspired games. If you're new to this genre and want to see if it's for you, this game serves as an excellent starting point. It's easy to grasp, and you won't need to overthink every decision or manage a plethora of details.
Overall, it's a light, enjoyable adventure that provides just the right amount of fun without overwhelming the player.
not very good but not terrible
Para mim o jogo destaca pela maneira como consegue dar vida à história. O desenvolvimento é bem feito e acaba por te deixar ansioso por saber mais e mais. Existem algumas escolhas não impactam diretamente na história, elas mais dinamismo e imersão ao jogo. O toque de humor sutil e sem ofuscar a história foi a cereja do bolo. (eu amei todos os trocadilhos feitos)
A dublagem é um dos grandes pontos altos do jogo. As vozes dos personagens trazem um nível extra de imersão. É difícil não se envolver com os diálogos e as interações! (As falas em francês da Valerie mexeram com meu coração haha)
Falando em personagens, tem alguns excelente, outros bons, mas acima todo e qualquer outro, temos a Valerie, uma personagem que comecei odiando e terminei amando, pessoalmente, eu adoraria ver mais conteúdo sobre ela.
My brother gave me this "game". I'm not sure why, and I wish he hadn't. You know how anime sexualizes females? Well that's something this "game" does. I don't call this game one because it is a sort of choose your own adventure visual novel. In addition to the sexualization, your male friend is a pervert in that he enjoys that. For example, he's excited to see the females in their "slutty" Halloween costumes. Also, the character you play as is perverted in that same way, even if you don't choose those frequently appearing dialog options. So that really is the problem I have with this: it is sexualized and at least you and your friend are perverted. I couldn't stand it anymore, so I decided to never play it again, and I will in fact remove the game from my account after this review is published. Do yourself and your friends a favor by not playing this and persuading others to avoid it as well.
Shinji tienes que pilotear el eva
My play time is not accurate, steam just didn't record 2 sessions for some reason.
This novel had me laugh/smile a few times. The fact I could make the family name helped lol. Some dumb choices I could not resist.
I will say there are some valid complaints about this novel. There seems to be some kind of flow issue where I was trusted into what seemed to be a subplot about a band and never heard about it again, nothing major I assume it was something that happens during the time skip. I will also agree that the ending could be better, I don't like open ended endings and it does feel like it should have kept going.
I think if you want to play a dating sim that has mech fights (basically just quick time), you wouldn't be disappointed with its flaws if you got it on sale.
A sweet a wholesome romance VN. With mecha. Which can only be an improvement.
"Ducks fly together!" and "Your care package drop zone is flatlined." have lived rent free in my head for the past eight years since I first played Ace Academy after its initial release.
Ace Academy turned out to be an amazing first game by PIxelFade especially considering this is the first visual novel they developed. Although the art work is not absolutely peak it still looks great and has a ton of flair. The voice acting although not super good there is a ton of love put into it, not to mention all the fun cameos they managed to squeeze into the game such as AmaLee and Gigguk. The best part of Ace Academy with out a doubt is the exceptional story and writing. The team did an amazing job at getting me invested into the stories and backgrounds of all the heroines, and I love that even on different routes the other heroines also find love. They did such a good job writing the characters that I got needlessly jealous when seeing the other girls in happy relationships after I went through their routes. The biggest problem I had with this novel was the crashing that kept happening when I was skipping through already read text, and the crashing that always happened to me during the ending credits. Initially for me Kaori was best girl but she is just too violent for my tastes and good looks can not make up for that; therefore Yuuna is best girl.
All in all Ace Academy is an amazing first game and does not even feel like a first time game either. It is fully worth purchasing and reading through with a good story and tons of fun humor dialogues.
Last time I played this game was 3 years ago and since then it's still my favorite out of all
VNs I came across.
The story itself is entertaining, the soundtrack quite enjoyable and the mouse controls
are really convenient.
Although their other games are recommendable too, IMO Ace Academy is the best VN
Pixel Fade created.
Broseph 😱
This was one of the first visual novels I ever played and it basically spoiled me for the rest of the genre. Play it. It's great.
Short (my actual play time is closer to 10 hours) but decent quality if you want something comedic and light. Probably get on sale? I like that the characters you don't romance [spoiler] still end up in relationships [/spoiler]
Intriguing and funny story. Kaori is adorable! But darn this open ending.... Does anyone know if there will be part 2 at some point? XD
This VN was somewhere between okay and good (about 3/5) in my book, but I had just read a really high quality one right before so that might be skewing my opinion. Lot's of cliches and cheap humor, but the characters and story are still fun to learn about. Voice acting is decent for an English VN.
If you care about character development, this story is decent, but if you are looking for world building, it's a massive disappointment. I was waiting for a conclusion to the [spoiler]special core tech[/spoiler] and the story just ends!
If you catch this VN on sale it's probably worth it.
I was skimming through steam, saw this game and thought to myself, "Oh yeah, I never reviewed this game."
Don't buy it.
The game lacks content. It doesn't have an actual end.
That's a sin. This game exists since 2016. It got two DLC's and the creators even made a new game, yet you're telling me they can't give a proper conclusion to this one?
I would forgive it if only 1/3 of the story was told, but no. Everything was going to connect to something big... but then it just ends. The disrespect is unreal.
I do not remember the year I've played this in. I'll see it after sending this review of mine.
But It's been a while.(Edit: 2020 apparently.)
Yet I still had enough willpower to write this review, just so that others would not experience what I did.
If this gets a proper patch or a new dlc that ends the story, good for everyone who kept being patient. Good for the newcomers too, they won't know of the unfortunate history of the game.
I will forgive the creators if it ever happens.
I'm out though. Most likely won't be playing this game again.
A great visual novel that is mostly light hearted and comedic.
What can i say, 10/10. Voice actors did a stellar job. Charter design, art, game pacing. All done well. My only issue is. I wish there was steam achievement.
a very great game! i was surprisingly engaged and the story has so much paths to explore that, even while i finished every route, i kept finding more! (EDIT: i have played all Pixelfade games and this one is still the best so take that what you will).
Please add the method to change the font style, the default font style made me dizzy.@_@
ACE Academy is a game that has potential, but it falls short of my expectations.
Having recently played visual novels from well-established Japanese developers, I found myself comparing ACE Academy to them. It's perhaps unfair to draw direct comparisons, considering one was made by an indie dev team backed through Kickstarter, while the other... well, you know.
Reused backgrounds are my biggest issue with this VN. It's one of the few things that truly pulls me out of being immersed in a VN. I usually imagine entire worlds around the backgrounds and location descriptions, but it gets completely thrown off by reusing them. I'd honestly prefer they simply showed me the sky than reuse backgrounds.
Another issue is the seemingly odd choice of story placement. Throughout the entire game, you get to pick who you want to have interactions with. I'd been avoiding picking Mayu the entire time until I couldn't anymore. An entire backstory of how the MC and Mayu started a band and were looking for a singer. I'm sorry, what? This is the first I've heard of this, and it's never brought up again either. Perhaps it's featured in the Mayu route, but I can't be bothered to read her route, to be honest.
This is something that the game does quite a bit where it springs onto you little bits of story that don't really quite make sense. I'm not a writer so I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but for some of them, something just felt off every so often.
Now that I've got my peeves out of the way, I want to say something positive. I can tell there was a lot of passion behind this project; I actually burst out into a full-on laugh several times, and not many games can do that.
The voice actors did a great job, and it was nice listening to English voices for once.
The art has its charm to it, and I think it works rather well.
While the story isn't the best thing I've read, it's nicely executed and wraps up alright. While I would've liked to see it fleshed out more, the devs simply didn't have that privilege with the funds.
So in short, I didn't love ACE Academy, but I had fun. There are improvements to be made. I look forward to playing what they've brought out since they released this.
decent story i buy the entire bundle this when on sale but played/read ACE Academy years ago when i pirate'd so another reason other reason was to support the developers it great characters if i'm going to rank characters romance and non romance route best ending with a reason and then ranked by {character development personal interpretation.}
Valerie despite her playful personalty she values those who keeping her promises although i did not like ending as a hole i give it a pass the reason i blame her mother breaking so many promises given the fact felt more not to say along the lines of destroy your fathers legacy but more forced in a neutral way you have a choice department but will support you regardless of your choice on a side note i believe mc father and Valerie father are connected reason hot chick exchange student comes goes straight to mc caught in the eagle doubt she was a spy other wise she never would have revealed the code she found not once spoken about her father like she avoided it i think if memory serve me right she also would not an assassin would not wait a year to eliminate the target.
Shou
as for Shou is like a bro although is he emphasised not to be burdened by the past must likely due to Shou relation to his brother would not surprise me if his after story may leads to mc dating Mei Satomi.
Kaori
now as for Kaori when the mc meet her or the first time i did not like Kaori until the near the end of the story she under stands the mc desire to ether protect or destroy mc fathers legacy willing to go lend support if its important enough to mc to find answers given her personality in the story her qout if it important to you make time for it.
Mayu a is shy girl I liked her till that one scene that made her a psycho level stalker that came to mind after seeing the CG unlock able very indecisive until later on her upon dating her becoming more open.
Yuuna my least favored character more then Kaori the reason being honestly if their was foul play at work then their letting Nikki know would be by first priority if their was concrete evidence and now another reason why i rank Yuuna dead last was her view on mental health for piolets if it was a military school then OK but its not. suspecting Valerie father was some how connected there is more then enough evidence points Yuuna's brother being in the cross fire one year prior which also be reasoning Yuuna view on mental health so important to Yuuna not being capable seeing her brother death coming despite being able to sense others inner thoughts
rank for character flow of development
Kaori
Valerie
Mayu
Shou
Yuuna
Not a bad VN, pretty good story and characters, bad combat was unrewarding.
First of the PixelFade VNs on Steam. Flawed but fun. The characters and their personal stories are the strong point. The background story plot start off good but sadly just kind of whimpers to an unsatisfying end. Bonus points for being in English with good (considering the developer is Canadian) grammar and spelling for the text and decent enough voice-over work.
Amazing VN. Solid atmosphere, fleshed out characters, lots of fun moments, dorky broseph and 4 girls to romance (one of the few VNs where I wanna go through every girl's arc). The only downside is the plotline around MC's GEAR and parents. [spoiler]There's a hefty buildup about the mystery behind Eagle's unusual core and MC parents' deaths, plotwise major decision right after the revelation, then poof - the game is wrapped up with all "what ifs" hanging in the air.[/spoiler]
was not expecting much buying this, but I can say i've been pleasantly surprised. story is good, characters are enjoyable, the only minus from me would be the character art which is kind of mediocre, the background art is well made though.
recommended to buy on a sale, great experience overall, around 6 hours for one route
Vollvertonte Visual Novel in Englisch mit schönen Geschichten und durchaus ernsten Themen, dennoch immer wieder aufgelockert mit lustigen Zwischenszenen.
I've played this game offline. What it adds are stellar VA work to a very wholesome story and dialogues. The only problem is there's not enough DLC/after story. Why only one? It not enough.
Great characters and story. Tender Moments ost is also fantastic.
As VN’s go, Ace Academy is a fairly good one, with a solid story, colourful visuals, and likeable characters.
Pros
Story not bad
Art is nice
Soundtrack ok
About 9 hours long
Cons
Mechs
Mech combat
I've been a huge fan of Pixel Fade's visual novels since I discovered them with Crystalline (their 2nd work) back in 2017. While the story is appealing, it definitely is the characters writing and humor which has me come back very regularly for another playthrough. And even though Ace Academy was their first VN, it's still totally worth playing as good jokes and funny situations never get old!
Soooo... thank you so much Pixel Fade for your hard work and having me so wonderfully entertained. You probably had people reach to you about that topic in the past but, in case you changed your mind since then and stumble upon this review, I'd LOVE to provide you with a free french translation of any of your VNs. Stay awesome guys and have a great end of year!!
Plot is good enough.
[h2]ACE ACADEMY[/h2]
Přiznám se - hned po dohrání Crystalline (další skvělá vizuální novela, moje recenze [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/artemiscze/recommended/616250/]ZDE[/url]) jsem nadšeně koupil i zbytek vizuálních novel od studia PixelFade, jelikož po důkladném přečtení mnoha recenzí mi bylo jasné, že celá jejich tvorba je stejně kvalitní jako právě Crystalline. No a řekl jsem si, proč to nevzít od úplného začátku a nezahrát si jejich úplně první novelu. Dámy a pánové, vítejte v ACE Academy!
Příběh se odehrává v blízké budoucnosti roku 2049, kdy světem hýbou zápasy obrovských mechů, kterým se říká GEAR. Ujmete se role amerického pilota GEARu, který se čerstvě přestěhoval do Japonska, aby zde mohl navštěvovat prestižní školu pro GEAR piloty - ACE Academy. Hned na začátku má hlavní hrdina problém se začleněním do kolektivu, jelikož díky jeho zastaralému americkému mechovi ho nechce do svých řad žádný kompetetivní tým. Až do chvíle, kdy se na poli objeví tým, který opravdu nutně potřebuje nového člena - což je perfektní příležitost pro našeho hrdinu!
A přesně v tu chvílí začíná naše cesta za vítězstvím v šampionátu (a taky za získáním srdce jedné z dívek ;). Oproti Crystalline se jedná o více typickou novelu v tom smyslu, že zde je na výběr z několika dívek, o které se můžete ucházet, resp. "cest" kterými se můžete vydat. Opět jsou tu volby, kdy máte mnohdy na výběr co říct nebo jak se zachovat. Jedná se o bezvadný způsob, jak se do příběhu i postav mnohem víc vcítit a zároveň personalizovat váš zážitek z průchodu hrou. Co se týče postav, těch je tu hned několik a jsou velmi rozličné a ze začátku i svým způsobem tajemné - každá postava skrývá víc, než se na první pohled zdá.
V interakcích s postavami se skrývá pravá síla ACE Academy. Postupně si se zbytkem týmu vybudujete silné pouto a bude vám záležet na jejich osudech a výsledcích každého zápasu. Moje nejoblíbenější momenty z celé hry jsou právě volné chvíle mezi zápasy, strávené s vašimi parťáky a spolužáky. Objevovat jejich osobní příběhy a motivace je zkrátka a dobře jedna velká radost. Jak už jsem zmínil předtím, mezi těmito postavami je i několik dívek, se kterými máte možnost během postupu hrou navázat romantický vztah.
Já jsem prošel pouze jednu cestu hrou, kdy jsem si jako svoji dívku zvolil Kaori. Zprvu jsem ji považoval naopak za poslední možnost, protože se často jevila jako arogantní a nepříjemná, ale postupem času zjistíte, že v jádru je úplně jiná a skrývá se v ní křehká lidská bytost, která myslí v první řadě na ostatní a až pak na sebe. A takhle je to s každou postavou, nikdy nesázejte na první dojem, dát šanci se zde vyplatí.
Stejně jako v případě Crystalline, i tady jsou postavy plně anglicky nadabované, což mnohým hráčům usnadní přístup k této vizuální novele. Herci opět předvedli super výkony a hlasy k postavám skvěle sedí. Styl grafiky je taky pěkný a ačkoliv prostředí nejsou tak pěkná na pohled jako tomu bylo u fantasy Terry z Crystalline, i tady se na ně krásně kouká.
Nevím, co víc dodat. Jedná se o zábavné a komediální čtení s volbami a super postavami, které umí pracovat s emocemi a i přes komediálního ducha umí být vážné, kdy je to zrovna třeba. Rozhodně doporučuji.
[h2]9/10[/h2]
PS: Ukázka OST zde:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnpLuYL1478
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_Kot4TiTBk
Mega aburrido, sin apenas fondo en la trama, plano y lineal a mas no poder...
This is my TOP1 visual novel, and I've read a ton of them. Maybe my opinion might be controversial for some, bu it even beats the dating aspects of ddlc, which was my TOP1 before I discovered this one. Definitely recommend everyone to get it, because I didn't have so much fun for a long time. The only thing which I can get around but it might be a trouble for some is that selfvoicing doesn't read the main menu and pause menu, but everything else like dialogues and choices is being red just fine.
This game is perfect! Perfect in every way! If you criticize game, you are bad.
Una visual novel bastanteee generica pero con una linda historia, antes estaba re barata, talvez para comprar en un sale esta bueno pero sino meh
robots and cringe interactions, game gets boring id rather play Grass growing simulator
Kaori is Magic
playing this game requires the patience of a saint and a fierce desire to waste your money
for a indie dev this is great and a fully voiced (minus mc tho) that i know about because of sydsnap
good stuff here
its nice
Enjoyable little story.
It is good but it was too short, the main problem was not even solved, it was a cliffhanger but aside from that, nice fully voiced characters, nice pace of story(until you get blue balled on the ending), good story with funny moments and romance. Basically if you are the type of person who just want some casual experience go ahead, to guys like me, think if you really want to play it.
Absolutely loved this game and play it at least two times a year especially around Christmas due to the After Story. I highly recommend it to people who enjoy multiple routes and well designed and written characters
Highly Recommended 10 Out Of 10 Can't wait For Astral Ascension
Jogo muito bom, pô comprar sem medo!
O jogo conta a história do MC (você) que perdeu os pais e está indo com a sua irmã morar com o tio (sei lá se é tio) para não ficar sozinho e também porque você passou em uma escola fodona de robô lá. O jogo tem mais ou menos 20 horas de jogo, mas se você não ficar traduzindo as palavras que não sabe, dá para finalizar bem mais rápido. Além disso, tem 2 finais que não diferem muito. A trama é muito bacana e cada personagem tem sua história única.
Já sabe né, se quiser comprar o jogo é só esperar uma promozinha show e pegar no precinho.
A charm-filled visual novel that really breathes life into all the characters you interact with; ACE Academy really resonates with you in a pleasant way.
recommended by me
This is one of the best visual novels I've ever played, The voice acting is great, it has all the generic characters that feel very flushed out, and the story feels real enough to be a book, but not so much that it is boring. Would recommend this and any other game by pixel fade to anyone who wants to try out visual novels.
Made by weeb trash, for weeb trash.
It made me laugh.
This was a great visual novel to read through.
There's 6 endings I think? I only did 4 but they were all good. It's pretty easy to figure out how to go down each route. You just hangout with the preferred whenever you're able to.
The writing and story is awesome and the characters are fun to interact with. There's lot's of dialog option, though, most of them don't matter, they just produce different reactions from the characters but they all lead to the same text. The dialog can be funny sometimes too which is great.
The art is really well done as well. A lot of the CGs look beautiful and they threw in a couple good fanservice ones too.
The voice acting was great also. They even cast a few very popular actresses that I immediately recognized.
Overall I had a lot of fun reading through this and getting to know each of the characters. I do wish I got to understand each of their problems more but see how this was a crowd-funded game, not too big of a complaint from me.
I would recommend this game at full price.
Interesting story line plus romance in this game. Strongly recommend to play this game
It does have a slightly abrupt ending that doesn't give much closure, but I thoroughly enjoyed (most) of the game and the ending didn't ruin any of that for me.
It is hard for me to rate this game as I am not the target audience so it would be unfair to downrate it. I am way too old for it but I think there are still some positive aspects worth mentioning.
First of all it is very well written and voiced over. Way better than the average. It is also funny and enthralling to some extent. Secondly it is quite long for a VN. I am not sure about replayability though. Characters are interesting with deep backstories. It allows to go back in time to the high school years with all its drama and nuanced relations.
That being said, the plot is well.... too inane for my taste. Well I bought it so I should not complain...
Beat every route and enjoyed each one.
I hope your adventures in the game will be just as enjoyable brosephs
STOP BEING A PERVERT!
Was fun
My Thumbs up doesnt mean i recommend it, it just means it's somewhat Decent.
As a Christian i dislike the Persona 4 reference since that game has Demonic characters, i dislike the use of the words "Hell", "Demon","Damn" and using "God's name" for useless things, i also dislike Witches (even if its just a costume). I would have refered it without those.
6/10
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It's a fun visual novel to play, the humour i thought was gold and the voice acting was well done too.
Yuuna best girl
I played this game a few years ago, and will definitely replay it (in my opinion the game has high replay value). I can easily say that Ace Academy continues to be one of my favorite dating sims/VNs, and I've played a lot of otome games, VNs, dating sims, etc over the years. I love how many choices you can make as the MC, I also like the fighting mecha (GEAR) element (and I did not think that I would've when I first started playing the game). When I played this game I laughed, smiled, and I had a hard time choosing between the various FLs as they all have different, yet equally enjoyable personalities. There were a few points in the game that I considered a coin flip when I finally figured out who my favorite two FLs were. Also the voice acting is great and I enjoy the art quite a bit as well. Overall I rate Ace Academy a 10/10 and I will continue to play games made by the incredible PixelFade.
Easily the best Western visual novel I've ever played.
You play as (insert protagonist name of your choice), a university-age man that moves from the US to Japan, and enrols in the pilot program in Ace Academy (title drop). It combines themes of sci-fi, romance, and (mild) intrigue into a package. Beware of quick-time events, and play with a mouse so you can cheat your way through said QTEs by scrolling up, if you're not into that sort of thing.
Absolutely impeccable voice-acting, which I've found is quite somewhat rare with VNs voiced in English, all VAs are appropriate for their characters, although, if you want to be pedantic, there's like 3 lines where the VAs say something slightly different to what the text caption says (an unforgivable crime).
The art is charming, and the character designs flattering. All of the CGs are very nice to look at, and well composed. I tip my hat to the artists.
The dialogue strikes a nice balance between serious moments, light-hearted conversation, comedy, and romance. The comedy aspects are kept in-check quite well, and don't ruin serious moments and immersion (too much), while the romance isn't so sappy, and overbearing as to dilute the rest of the game.
You're in for about 8-12 hours of content, and there is replay value to be had. I can't speak as to how dynamic the plot is, as I am just about to replay now.
Would definitely recommend, and the only thing I'm disappointed by is how short the game is, but at the end of the day, it's a crowdfunded project.
Ace academy.
One of my first visual novels.
To be honest i played it a long time ago so making this review will be a bit hard for me.
Ace academy has a pretty nice story however it's cut short due to monetization if i had to guess ? Nonetheless if you play your cards right you technically end up finishing 2 of your character's goals 1 finding love 2 doing well in school.
The game is both a dating sim and a visual novel it is not however an rpg or a time management game.
So don't buy it expecting the next persona game.
The sprites for the character's are pretty nice.The art is pretty good looking and the colors are great.I liked the design of a lot of the characters.
The game's strong point however is comedy.So if you're looking for an incredibly dark vn you probably should pass this one.
To finish this review,the game is pretty cheap for a visual novel i would still recommend waiting for sales but i would recommend doing that for any game.
Around 9 hours for a single playthrough. I got through each of the "routes" (Mixed/Family, Shou, Yuuna, Mayu, Valerie, Kaori) once and it came out to around 24 hours (including waiting for the already-seen dialogue to be skipped over when doing new routes.) Even after that though there are many minor choices and combinations I noticed that would most likely add special dialogues that I didn't choose.
Regarding the story expect more slice of life rather than having it be plot focused. The routes are also more just experiencing different character interactions rather than branching into different narratives. The ending finishes with almost all of the main story buildup still unanswered. If you want a good story arc this isn't the game, if you just want a slice of life mixed with a nice choose-your-own-adventure then this is pretty good. At times the dialogue options made me feel like I was playing a good old-fashioned RPG instead of a Visual Novel. The breadth of options wasn't large, but you could still have many forms of the character you control. Better than the standard black-and-white replies of other visual novels (even though the game does still do that at times).
Voice acting was about what I expected. They do fairly well especially given that they were probably not given direction for every scene. This does mean the mannerisms/tones don't always match with the context. There are some missing and or half-missing voice lines mixed in along with a couple audio design errors. The music is pretty decent and well-made.
If you are unsatisfied after a single playthrough and don't usually play through multiple routes I'd encourage you to give this one a shot. You don't have to read the whole thing over again you can use the "skip-seen-text" feature to skip to all the parts you haven't read yet. Focus on a character and enjoy the ride. I was kinda indifferent after my first read, but came to enjoy the journey more after experiencing so many options.
The second half starts to show some of the flaws of having so many choices. Implied events that didn't occur earlier because you chose differently. These continuity errors really stick out and sours the overall experience. Most of the time they at least add a few tie in lines for stuff you may have missed/to catch you up to the scenes, but not always.
Concerning Quality of life this game had quite a few noticeable problems and missing features. Which is understandable for what this game is and when it came out. No Fullscreen support for Win10 (there's a setting option for it, but it's bugged.) I tried some of the fixes in the steam discussions, but none worked for me so I ended up playing in windowed the whole time.
No Backlog/History/Back Button support so if you miss what a character said due to the occasional miss tap/click you will have to reload a save. It also makes skipping already seen text on future playthroughs more annoying due not being able to look at the current conversation before choosing between options.
The game does have Mobile store ports that are baseline cheaper, but Steam sales usually will make it cheaper here.
best $5 i've ever spent!
Qualquer Date Sim que me faça jogar mais de uma vez a história merece uma chance. É um "date-sim feito por ocidentais", por isso acho que desceu melhor pra mim. No entanto, algumas coisas para ficar ligado antes de comprar:
- O jogo é Indie e um pouco curto. Ainda assim, honestamente, eles tentam umas coisinhas legais (escolhas com um tempo-limite, nomear ataques, algumas piadas e mudanças de rota legais, etc) que me convenceram a comprar outros jogos deles no futuro.
- Se você conhece os dubladores (em especial da Kaori e da Mei) pode aproveitar ainda mais - são pessoas famosas na comunidade de Anime nos EUA. Bem, você vai ter que saber ler inglês pra jogar Ace Academy (não tem em PT-BR), então vai que conhece esses dubladores.
- Kaori é a melhor garota ;)
Isso aí, se anime e date-sim é o seu negócio, pode comprar.
i first played it on mobile and fall in love with the story since. i hope there will be a continuation for the story like kaori after story but in the end its them to decide and us to imagine what will happen to the story in our mind.
best route so far.
1.kaori
2.mayu
3.Yunna
4. Valerie(still love her voice act tho)
love the musics and the ending music timeless.
Good
Very good VN, and it´s very cheap when it´s on sale.
No it doesn´t have hentai and no it doesn´t have japanese voice acting, but it´s still worth it for visual novel fans.
This is basically a romance visual novel but the plot revolves around family and mechs too.
You have a lot of free will when it comes to the choices you make or the routes you choose, and the main character isn´t an idiot like in other VN´s, at least if you make the right choices.
This game got me really confused with what route I wanted, I didn´t know if I should choose Yuuna or Valerie, they were both very interesting, in the end I chose Yunna and I didn´t regret it.
I liked the story and the plot, the artsyle is really cool but I wish they would have art for less important characters as well and for some locations.
The music is like any other VN, it´s good enough. The voice acting, well, in some cases it was good, in other cases not that much, I noticed that some voice actors did their job better along the game, they must have started to feel more confident or became more relaxed through experience maybe, also in some cases some npc´s didn´t voice everything that was written, but it was tolerable.
I found out a fail in the choice system, In the bike ride offered to Yunna, the second ride she acted like she didn´t know I had a bike for some reason.
Overall the game is worth it, but under sale, you should buy the whole Pixelfade bundle when the sales begin, its around 13 euros when on sale if I remember correctly, I have to say it was difficult to quit the game to go to sleep sometimes so yeah, I recommend it.
ive played all the games of pixelfade, and while this is not the best of them. its still a really interesting and great game, as always. its a good game, with another set of great characters with alot of personality. this game is defenitly worth the money. its also an extremely long game, and i dont feel like theres any filler in this game. its all quality. defenitly a no brainer
It's a pretty straightforward school dating sim with giant robots and a pretty typical, but wide cast. The art is really cute (although the guy sprites can look a little wonky at times imho), and the romantic options are definitely fun! My only complaints are how few options actually seem to matter and that we didn't get more time with the story/characters. It felt like we got way more time doing silly shenanigans with the girls than doing anything plot-wise, which is totally fine, but it does make me wonder why anyone even bothered introducing a lot of the story elements. All in all, it was cute and I'd recommend it for someone wanting something more lighthearted and slice of life with pretty anime girls (plus a cute bro best friend who I will die for. someone give me another game with just the MC and Shou having some cool adventure in America, like waking up in Las Vegas and there's some mobsters after them. the girls can call or write letters but if anyone takes any screen time away from our bromance I'll be so mad.)
Thanks to this game. I know how it feels like to not fail in school.
*cries at my failed grades*
Anyway, thank you to my nii-san! :D
I recommend this game. It's a romance/comedy visual novel set at a college for giant fighting robot pilots. It's lighthearted, funny and cute. However, it isn't worth $20. I'd say to only buy this game when it's on sale for $5 or less.
[b]What I liked about it:[/b]
[list]
[*]The characters are fun and easy to care about.
[*]All characters except the protagonist are fully voiced in English.
[*]The English voice acting is pretty good.
[*]The character art is good.
[/list]
[b]Important stuff you might want to know:[/b]
[list]
[*]There's no text log, so you miss any text that you accidentally skip.
[*]There is no keyboard control configuration.
[*]There is no controller support. It's entirely mouse and keyboard.
[*]There are 4 romantic routes and 2 platonic routes.
[*]The first playthrough took me 6 hours. Each additional playthrough took me 1 hour.
[*]There are no sex scenes or full nudity. The game does show the characters in swimwear, though.
[/list]
Great, fun VN....with one HUGE drawback. It ends in the middle of the story with an apology from the devs....money dried up so the story ends here. Right when it gets interesting. And then they made Ethereal Enigma, which is complete garbage.
What the hell are you guys doing, devs? Make another Crystaline.
Garbage writing. I've seen better when grading grade schooler papers.
VERY disappointing game. Social development and character development are slow. The plot thickens only after multiple hours of playing, and when it finally gets really interesting (solving mysteries and being potentially in danger) and might actually be about to achieve something, it quits. The end. No wrap up, no segue to the ending, just FULL STOP. No, that is not a glitch. That is what it does.
There is one Pro - the writer can be quite witty, and so the humor in the dialog is fun. Now that I have given you this spoiler, STOP, however, that may not be enough to make you want to buy it. Why on earth didn't he have a continuation of the game? It was nearly insulting to end like that. "Ha ha, you are involved in the story now, PSYCHE!"
