After the success of Ace Fight 7, extra eyes are on the legacy dog-fighting collection than at any time in its historical past.
The group behind the following entry, Ace Fight 8: Wings of Theve, is effectively conscious of the distinctive strain that presents after 30 years of flying.
“With Ace Fight 7, we acquired lots of new followers and new gamers as a result of it was obtained very effectively,” Manabu Shimomoto, Ace Fight 8: Wings of Theve producer, informed me at a world-first hands-on occasion that occurred final month.
“Previous to that, lots of the gamers tended to be someone eager about plane already or who was very within the flight taking pictures style, however the brand new followers didn’t actually essentially belong to that group; due to this fact, we have now a way more wide-ranging viewers.”
I steered to the builders that it’s a reasonably distinctive scenario to be pondering of such a sliding scale of core gamers for a franchise that’s celebrating its thirtieth 12 months, when historically that is the purpose the place solely a hardcore viewers would stay as enthusiastic. Shimomoto and Kazutoki Kono, Ace Fight model director, agreed.
“To cater for newcomers, we have now a really complete tutorial and coaching mode,” Shimomoto stated.
“However that’s one thing that we’re aware of going ahead as effectively, to guarantee that we offer the content material that may be performed and loved by a wide-ranging viewers.”
Throughout my time with the sport, I received to play the opening few missions, attending to grips with the brand new protagonist and their allies, in addition to the stakes of the world. These missions, as alluded to by the builders, felt like an effective way for brand new gamers to slowly immerse themselves on this planet of Ace Fight.
Crucially for veteran gamers, these early missions will be flown by means of (pun supposed) in a short time en path to the sport’s extra advanced missions. The traditional dogfighting expertise nonetheless feels wonderful, as are the sport’s visuals.
Whereas a few of the missions I performed have been so simple as chasing down some enemy pilots and turning their planes to scrap metallic, others have been extra concerned. There’s air-to-ground fight, battles with huge ships, and city-wide anti-air weapons to cope with.
Even when the flying is at its greatest, it’s simple to see how a much less creative recreation within the style would shortly run out of steam with monotonous and repetitive missions. Ace Fight 8 is eager to continuously shock the participant with what they’ll be doing subsequent.
All through these missions, you’re chatting to your co-pilots, which is a enjoyable, passive method of furthering the story and your connection to them. Often, you’ll get the possibility to reply with a dialogue selection, although these interactions are seemingly extra to supply color to the exposition, somewhat than game-changing story selections.
“That was arrange exactly as a result of it simply didn’t really feel proper not to have the ability to talk in any respect, though they’re flying so shut by,” Kono defined. “So to make the interplay appear extra pure, that operate has been added. But it surely doesn’t have an effect on the last word ending.
“There are slight nuances within the reply, actually, as a result of there are some enemies that you simply don’t essentially should battle inside the mission, and that applies to some extra characters as effectively. There are some that you simply don’t essentially should work together with as effectively, so the participant has that degree of freedom.”
Ace Fight 8: Wings Of Theve stands just about alone in 2026. So lots of the arcade-style video games that launched as contemporaries of the Ace Fight collection have been relegated to obscurity or the realms of occasional remasters. Ace Fight is principally the one recreation of its sort that may nonetheless command such an viewers. I requested the sport’s management group why they thought that was.
“Wanting on the present market as of 2026, should you forged your eyes to not solely mainstream however unbiased sectors as effectively, there are extra video games within the flight shooter style than individuals might imagine,” Kono informed me.
“However what Ace Fight has, and the others don’t, is the collected capital that has been acquired during the last 30 years, whether or not it’s storytelling or the data and the depth of breadth of plane obtainable – that is one thing that could be very laborious to copy.”
“Moreover, if you have a look at different flight shooter genres, lots of them simply have you ever fly after which go into dogfights. Whereas for the Ace Fight franchise, it’s a hero-making expertise that the participant will go on to by overcoming challenges to in the end develop into the ace pilot. So there may be this very clear goal that basically makes it utterly completely different for the gamers.”
The Ace Fight collection started in 1995 as a launch title for the PlayStation in North America. Named Air Fight within the West and Ace Fight in Japan, the sport was a port of a preferred Namco arcade title.
Since then, the collection has offered over 20 million copies, with the final recreation within the collection, Ace Fight 7, promoting over 7 million copies alone.
Whereas it’s set in a fictional world filled with offbeat characters, it’s nonetheless a navy story utilizing real-world {hardware}. Loads of video video games warn that their struggle tales aren’t primarily based on precise occasions, however for a public that has develop into used to seeing a number of completely different wars livestreamed throughout social media on daily basis, it’s turning into troublesome to compartmentalise.
The nations in Ace Fight’s world aren’t actual, however they’re not Tamriel, and real-life analogs aren’t laborious to search out. Whereas the fictional Strangereal universe of the Ace Fight video games is effectively established, I requested if it turns into tougher to inform struggle tales in a contemporary context, even with this fictional geographic layer.
“So… you’re proper,” Kono replied. “Simply to say, the Ace Fight franchise is firmly rooted on this universe of Strangereal. So it’s a fictional, very non-real universe, however extraordinarily practical. So something, any of the nations that’s talked about, or both political, militant, or non secular beliefs expressed, is just not primarily based on any actual occasions in any respect.
“However there are in-depth ongoing discussions that happen amongst the artistic group, whether or not it’s visible, narrative, or the truth of what’s taking place in that Strangereal universe.
“For instance, the enemy state for this franchise is Sotoa. We’ve got discussions in regards to the historical past of that nation, its tradition, and what’s the causes, and what’s the context of them going into struggle on this Strangereal universe. As a result of all the things has been mentioned and actually dug deep, that’s why it appears much more plausible even on this fictional world.”
I completely loved my time with Ace Fight 8: Wings of Theve. The sport to this point appears like a pure continuation of what made the seventh recreation within the collection such a breakout hit. The forged is excessive, however within the heightened realism of the Ace Fight universe, they really feel at dwelling.
Whereas the missions I received to play weren’t essentially the most difficult, it’s plain how enjoyable it’s to chop by means of the sky at unfathomable speeds. Dogfighting in video games will be clumsy – in Ace Fight 8, it’s something however. The fluid, reactive gameplay paired with the wonderful visuals makes for a gameplay expertise that’s each thrilling and oddly enjoyable. In a 12 months that’s jam-packed with video games, followers of the collection and new recruits ought to preserve their eyes on the Strangereal skies.
