Ace Combat is already known for being one of the weirder video game franchises story-wise, but it's still tried to stay as solid as possible in its game, especially when it comes to the design of its planes and their mechanics. Each item featured a wide variety of authentic aircraft, and even their fictional jets usually look like something that could belong in the real world if military technology was pushed just a little further than it is currently. This balance is part of why the series works, and Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve continues that tradition with a version of near-future warfare that seems believable enough to embrace, even if it asks players to go up against something as ridiculous as a land battleship barreling through a city.
I recently attended a First Look event at Orbital Studios in Los Angeles Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theveduring which I got nearly six hours of hands-on time with the game and the opportunity to hear more about it from brand director Kazutoki Kono. I had no idea that one of the hardest missions I played during the demo, Mission 9, was apparently inspired by Godzillaaccording to Kono. If that's no indication of how far Ace Combat 8 is willing to stretch his own version of reality, I don't know what it is. Still, this mission worked so well that it never felt completely out of place. It was wild, sure, but it still felt that way Ace Combatand that's a lot harder to find a balance than you might think.
Ace Combat 8 walks a fine line between reality and fiction
Ace Combat has always been a series that requires players to accept a very specific version of reality. His planes have to feel recognizable, his warfare has to feel close enough to the real thing, and his fictional ideas have to be exciting without pushing the whole thing too far into military sci-fi. That's a tough line, especially for a game like this Ace Combat 8: Wings of Thevewhich is clearly interested in pushing the series' version of near-future warfare even further than Ace Combat 7 he did According to Kona, the team starts by making sure the world has a believable foundation before expanding beyond it:
First, you need to establish a baseline that is believable. So we want to make sure that our line of reality is something that can be imagined. It starts with a lot of research and just gathering data about what the current state of warfare looks like and then trying to imagine what it might look like.
This foundation seems particularly important because Ace Combat it only works if players can trust the world before the game bends it. No one goes into it Ace Combat 8 expects a military sim, but the jets, weapons, and battlefields still need to feel like they belong together. Once that part is established, the series has more room to introduce the kind of ideas that would probably seem ridiculous elsewhere.
The ninth mission of Ace Combat 8 was inspired by Godzilla
This philosophy couldn't have been clearer in one of the most challenging levels I played during the demo. This particular mission tasks players with shooting down a land battleship that is barreling through the city of Theve, but what makes it so difficult is that it often feels like nothing can stop it. No matter how hard you try, she keeps slashing everything in her path, and things get even more complicated when an army of swarm drones appear to stop your missiles from hitting the battleship. In addition, you are fighting against time and enemy UAVs that regularly appear in the area. I wasn't able to play the entire mission due to spoilers, but even after reaching the end of the part I could view, the ship was apparently still alive and well.
Ace Combat has always been a series that requires players to accept a very specific version of reality.
As Kono continued to explain how Ace Combat 8 blurring the line between fiction and reality, he actually started talking about what I'm pretty sure was the ninth mission that caused me so much grief. He didn't specifically mention that this was the mission, but after playing it and hearing his description, I'm convinced it's the one he was referring to:
We have battleships that can float on land and land and surface, which I know is kind of a stretch of the imagination. But that was something that our mech designer came up with and wanted some kind of scene where Godzilla destroys the city. So it was almost an homage or throwback to Godzilla. So we thought how to create that feeling, but do it at least within the framework of believability.
After playing this mission myself, I understand exactly what Kono means. A land battleship sailing through Theve should probably be too much, even for Ace Combatbut it worked because the game never presented it as a joke. It was a ridiculous premise, but it was also a serious threat, and that made all the difference. I was too busy trying to survive, clear a path through the Swarm Drones, and stop the thing from reaching its target to stop and think about how absurd the whole setup was.
That's why Mission 9 seems like a clear example of how to do it Ace Combat handles fiction. It's strange, but it's not random. The game still takes the same military base as the rest of the series and then pushes it far enough to create something players will remember. Kono described this approach as a matter of knowing how far reality can bend before it breaks:
We try to take what we know to be real and believable and then bend reality a little bit to the point where it's a little bit of a stretch, but okay, I'll let it slide. We dive pretty deep into our research and how we communicate that across the screen, which I think ultimately lends itself to Ace Combat's own reality that people have come to love.
No matter how difficult it was, that's why Mission 9 made such a strong impression on me. The idea of a land battleship that rushes through the city because the team wanted something that felt like Godzilla in the wrong hands it could easily sound ridiculous, but the team behind it Ace Combat we're talking about. With eight mainline entries, the developer now knows what it's doing. Theve's wings it's still grounded enough to make it worth buying into its world, but it's also quirky enough to give players the kind of action and spectacle that the series has always been known for. If Mission 9 is any indication, Ace Combat 8 he doesn't retreat from that identity, but instead leans into it with more confidence than ever.
- Released
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October 2, 2026
- ESRB
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Teen / Blood, Language, Mildly Obscene Themes, Violence, In-Game Purchases, User Interaction
- Developers
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Bandai Namco Aces
