Anime News Network·Japan·Friday, September 18, 2026 at 12:30 PM

I'm in Love With Ace Combat 8's Focus on Characters

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I'm not exactly what one would call a hardcore fan of arcade-style flight sim games. While I played Wing Commander III and IV to completion more than once (Mark Hamill and Tom Wilson in my interactive movie/flight sim!?) and dabbled more than a bit with X-Wing vs TIE Fighter and Star Wars Squadrons, that's the limit of my experience—or at least it was until I saw the trailer for Ace Combat 8 that came out earlier this year.

For me, story is often my favorite part of games, so the trailer's focus on plot and world-building took hold of my imagination—to the point that I picked up Ace Combat 7 and started working my way through it in preparation. I've had a blast, and that made me doubly excited to spend some hands-on time with Ace Combat 8 at the Tokyo Game Show 2026.

For the demo, I played one of the game's earliest missions. In it, the main character, Rex, has just taken up the mantle of the “unkillable” ace, the titular “Wings of Theve.” As his aircraft carrier looks for a safe port after the collapse of their country, the squadron encounters first drones and later a recon squadron tasked with hunting them down.

In the air, Ace Combat 8 was fuctionally identical to what I was used to with Ace Combat 7. The “expert” controls and the gameplay felt the same—and this is not a complaint. After seven games, Ace Combat's controls are well refined. What was different this time around was the increased focus on characters.

In the loadout screen, you now see each pilot as you choose their individual jet—and listen to them comment on the situation you are in. This puts a face with each plane and voice on the comms—making the planes feel like extensions of the characters. Then, for the aforementioned mission, there was a lengthy in-game cutscene that further fleshed out two of the pilots: Professor and Tasha. Professor is the no-nonsense leader, keeping everyone on task and easing you into the role. Tasha is a stunt pilot, taking the opportunity of being in the sky to pull off all kinds of aerial tricks just for the heck of it. The dynamic shots of the planes are intercut with in-cockpit shots of the pilots and Rex's thoughts on his new companions.

In the actual mission, there was a ton of playful chatter and, by the time the fighting was done, I already felt closer to these characters than any in Ace Combat 7 outside of Avril and Rosa. This focus on characters is exactly what I was hoping for with this game, and I can't wait to see how the story continues.

Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is scheduled for release on October 2, 2026, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows.

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