Ace Combat 7's plot marks the series' return to its traditional setting of Strangereal, and follows the exploits of "Trigger", a fighter pilot who is assigned to a penal squadron following an accusation of murder, in the midst of a war between the countries of Osea and Erusea.

Ace Combat 7 received generally positive reviews from critics and became the highest-selling entry in the series, with over six million units sold across all platforms by January 2025.

The player begins the game with the F-16C, and is able to unlock the MiG-21 and F-104C Starfighter after the fourth single-player mission without using MRP, with the F-22A Raptor, Su-57, and the fictional X-02S Strike Wyvern as top-tier aircraft in the tech tree.

For the first time in the series, clouds interfere with aircraft, hindering the player's vision and targeting systems when passing through them and rendering laser weapons ineffective due to refraction.

Players are given an in-game briefing prior to a combat mission, where they are informed of success parameters, expected opposition, terrain features, and weather conditions using a 3D map display.

Considered expendable, Spare Squadron is sent on highly dangerous missions with minimal support to probe Erusea's drone defense network for weak points, frequently losing members in the process.

For their commendable performance, all members of Spare Squadron are pardoned and transferred to a base on Tyler Island, off the southwestern coast of Usea, while Trigger and his wingman Count are recruited by the elite Long Range Strategic Strike Group (LRSSG).

Trigger encounters Mihaly again over Farbanti, but their duel is interrupted when Osea and Erusea use anti-satellite weapons against each other, causing a collisional cascade that breaks down satellite communication networks worldwide and disables both sides' IFF signals.

With the network down, Dr. Schroeder travels to the ISEV to transmit Mihaly's flight data into a new generation of Erusean combat drones manufactured in automated factories, while the LRSSG, now cut off from command and forced to operate independently, attempts to regroup and find a way to end the war.

Meanwhile, Avril and the 444th try to survive on an isolated Tyler Island in the midst of a three-way battle between Osea, Erusea, and rogue Osean penal units, and rescue Cossette from her shot-down liaison aircraft.

Disillusioned by the destruction his program had caused, Schroeder agrees to help stop the factories, but reveals that the data was already uploaded to two advanced drone fighters, "Hugin" and "Munin".

A joint Osean–Erusean coalition assaults the ISEV to seize it from Erusean radicals, while Cossette and Avril disable its microwave power transmissions, allowing Trigger to destroy the remaining Arsenal Bird Justice.

VR Mode's plot follows Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies protagonist Mobius 1 as he joins the IUN-PKF to battle the Free Erusea terrorist group in 2014, five years prior to the events of the main game.

[4] A teaser trailer shown at PlayStation Experience 2015, a very early impression of the game created before development properly began, prominently featured all three subjects.

Development of the online multiplayer mode was designed to provide the same experience regardless of platform, location, or skill level, and playtesting was conducted overseas.

Ace Combat 7 features post-release downloadable content that adds new aircraft, missions, roundels, squadron markings, and paint schemes.

[28] Eurogamer's John Linneman recommended the game as a return to form of the Ace Combat series, and praised its gameplay, graphics, music, plot, and VR mode, deeming it an "absolute must-play".

[30] Eurogamer.it's Antonio Savino,[31] Game Informer's Andrew Reiner,[32] GameSpot's Edmond Tran,[33] and GameRevolution's Jason Faulkner[34] each gave Ace Combat 7 a rating of 8/10.

Savino highlighted the game's graphics, sound, and music, though he noted that due to a lack of a "fairly convincing blur effect", things often felt "still", even at high speeds.

[31] Reiner highlighted its gameplay, sound, and presentation, but criticized the uneventful multiplayer experience and the campaign's "preposterous" plot, calling it "a Fast and the Furious story that is trying to be touching and serious, but it just doesn’t mesh".

[32] Tran praised the game as marking the series' return to form as well as its gameplay and VR experience, but noted the campaign had "tedious" missions with sparse checkpoints.

[33] Faulkner said the game had a "great story" with excellent graphics and a replayable multiplayer mode, though he lamented the absence of features from previous titles such as wingman commands or branching campaign missions, criticized the game's design as being "a bit too safe", and noted the VR mode lacked motion sickness safeguards, making it difficult to play through, though he added that it was worth it.

[42] By January 2021, the game had sold over 2.5 million units worldwide,[43] surpassing Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies to become the franchise's best-selling title.