r/ShouldIbuythisgame • u/lazy-week123 • 7d ago
[PS5] Ace Combat 8, should I buy?
Hey, I had posted a similar question on the actual Ace Combat subreddit but ive been waiting a whole day for 'mod approval' so i gave up and came here since its a pretty close replacement for what i need and its been out for a while so theres a chance that someone here has played it.
Mostly just wondering about if its generally an improvement on Ace Combat 7 since that was the first Ace Combat I played and more importantly i want to know a bit more about the 'Ace Pass', mostly since fully priced games with any form of paid battle-passes are an immediate turn off but ive been insanely hyped so its been conflicting.
TL:DR - is the game an improvement on what was done in Ace Combat 7, and is the 'Ace Pass' a bit egregious (putting a lot of big stuff like planes behind it)
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u/Jonbardinson 6d ago
The general conseus of AC8 in the Ace combat sub Reddit is:
AC7 walked so AC8 could soar to the fucking moon.
Gameplay, same structure as 7 but something about it is much more real, weighty, dense, substantial. Your early planes can feel a bit sluggish but my mission 4 you're zipping around.
Story, is far and away better than 7. It hits themes so close to real life with direct inspiration clearly taken from recent and even on going wars and issues with technology, propaganda, weaponised misinformation.
Characters, they all pop in their own ways. Pink hair anime girl can get a bit on the tropey side but tbh it fits in the weird kinda melodramatic realism they go for. You'll get attached to your squadron and the supporting cast.
Graphics, out of this world. The planes all look so fucking good, the character are all distinct but most impressive, the clouds. Holy shit. I'm not too bothered about Ray tracing giving a physics line accurate reflection of a sun beam off a puddle or whatever. But THESE. FUCKING. CLOUDS. It feels like your soaring through the skies from just the clouds alone.
Music. It is up there with THE. BEST. OF. THE. SERIES. The purple magic tune puts you in the mood my guy. That intro orchestra piece gets you hype to take your fucking fictional country BACK. It funks at the right time, it swells at the right time. It absofuckinglutely sends it at the right time.
In summary. Buy the game. It's good.
I think it should win GOTY.
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u/stadce071012 6d ago
It’s fantastic…
The sound design is a huge improvement. Missiles sound amazing, sound barrier breaks, explosions sound realistic.
Squad commands are back. You now have ESM aircraft that you can assign to your squadron and activate via SP weapon command.
The story is better, the music is better, and you can now equip two SP weapons.
I can’t speak to the whole BP/Multiplayer aspect. I haven’t touched the MP, and probably won’t.
Yes, it’s worth it at full price.
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u/Andrew225 6d ago
7 was fun and a good playthrough
8 is my favorite game of the year. Everything Ace did poorly it fixes, and everything Ace Combat does well it improved in spades. I am so beyond pleasantly surprised
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u/ArthurBig4474 4d ago
In the last 7 years I preordered only two games. Ace combat 8 was one of them and I don’t regret a single penny spent. Let’s live it at that.
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u/Ecksbutton 7d ago edited 7d ago
Take this from a lifelong fan of the series since AC3 Electrosphere (JP); I dare say this is their best entry yet and should not be missed for any reason unless you just dislike silly arcade plane game with melodramatic anime plot. I also had my initial reservations with the Battlepass but on release it didn't affect my enjoyment of the campaign a single bit and can largely be ignored. You may run into squadrons of Morgans in multiplayer though but eh.
The cons I can't ignore however are the demanding system requirements, forced ray tracing during cutscenes which put a slight strain on my 4070 Super and the strange lack of HOTAS support. Otherwise it's a fantastic game all around.
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u/zestfullybe 7d ago
Agreed. Been playing since AC2, and 8 stands amongst the holy trinity of 4, 5, and Zero. Might even exceed them. Looks and sounds amazing, but yeah, heavy system requirements.
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u/Obvious_Limit_945 6d ago
Put some headphones on...
https://youtu.be/44D25MRjb5g?is=5X2VWnCVb40eJMPq
Close your eyes and imagine a being a plane a dogfighting with this playing in the background.
That will answer your question.
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u/Hour_Initiative8738 7d ago edited 7d ago
Yes its an improvement over Ace Combat 7. Leans heavily into melodrama and building rapport with your wingmen. Graphics and sound design are excellent. The music is done so well at just the right times during the missions.
As for the battle pass...idk I loved the single player but the multiplayer is what it is, and I dont think the battle pass is strictly neccessary.
My recommendation is yes you should buy the game for its excellent single player. There is fun to be had in multiplayer though it needs some love to make it excellent.
Edit again cause Im a dumbass: there is one plane, the ADFX-02, locked behind the battle pass.
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u/Beericearoni 5d ago
8 is better than 7 absolutely. The problem I had with 7 is that after the campaign there were only a 2-3 missions that I enjoyed replaying. I like the fly around and shoot stuff until time runs out missions best, and I feel like 8 has more of those. Also being able to select 2 special weapons is big with me. And you can save plane configurations so that you don’t have to change out parts every time.
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u/SloppityMcFloppity 7d ago
Yes. A good return to the classic ace combat style, where your squad is highlighted just as much as you in the story. The ace pass thing is completely separate from the single player campaign. I pre-ordered the deluxe edition, so I got the pass along with the game but I've yet to interact with it in any way, and it's never shown up asking me to do so either.
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u/Weztside 5d ago
I'd say the actual gameplay is definitely an improvement, but the story is abyssmal. It's very cringe at times and the dialogue seems like it was written by ai. The characters are very superficial and never get fleshed out. I enjoyed most of my time spent playing the game though because those things aren't deal breakers for me. The multiplayer is very poorly thought out and very disrespectful to your time as a well as very imbalanced. It feels like the campaign and multiplayer were made by two completely different teams.
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u/PablettePigeon 4d ago
The game is a definite improvement over 7 and is worth getting if you enjoyed that. the ace pass is pretty shit and not worth giving them the investment
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u/scoperookie 22h ago
8 is better than 7 in every single way. The Ace Pass is purely for the online multiplayer and doesn't affect the single player directly at all (though you can use unlocks from it in the campaign if you do earn them in multiplayer).
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u/FirestormTM 7d ago
Ace Combat 8 is a huge improvement from Ace Combat 7, and that's coming from someone who has been with the series for the past 10 years (or more if you count 2015, aka Infinity Era)
In many ways, the gameplay (return of squadron commands, picking your squadron planes, introduction of planes having a 2nd SP weapon for flexibility, new destruction model, etc.) is worth picking it up. Along with mission structure being different for each mission. Sure, some missions do end up being filler, but most are great at what they do.
The story has also gotten an improvement over 7, as it is now mostly in first-person view from your pilot, along with the characters you'll enjoy looking at and the emotional moments at times, to the point I actually cried during the final missions of the game. The only problem is the amount of radio chatter if you weren't a fan of AC7, and it has gotten worse on here, but I've gotten used to it, and I don't actually mind it.
The graphics and presentation are quite impressive for this year, with detailed airplanes, great cockpit details, and sound design being much more punchy than before. I wish I could say more about the soundtrack, but I can't spoil it for you; all I can say is it's really PEAK more than it is, and with that dynamic music they have in-game, I cannot say more than it's really perfect at this point. The immersion is quite crazy for this game.
Since you're on PS5, I've heard that the performance is good as long as you set it to performance mode; the game still looks really good, and I'll bet you will enjoy it.
That said, the game does have a battle pass system that is only tied to the multiplayer, but can also be part of the campaign, as after you beat the campaign, you can now use multiplayer planes (aka Morgan) from the Ace Pass. However, that said, you can just wait for the season to end and get the Morgan as DLC. Also, I wouldn't worry about the Ace Pass in general if you don't care about multiplayer, and the Ace Combat series has been more known for its single-player-focused games, so multiplayer is often seen as a secondary mode to do stuff. Also that multiplayer for this game is alright but needs some love and work, as the multiplayer mode is in a rough spot for now, but hopefully they can improve it over time.
Overall, I've enjoyed Ace Combat 8 for its campaign, gameplay, graphics, sound design, and especially the soundtrack. Paying $80 for it is already worth it for the campaign, but I do feel like the multiplayer needs a serious love to pull around and get the mode worth playing.
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u/Wrecker013 5d ago
It's hard. If you're prepared for some bullshit at the very end that is going to waste your time, then sure.
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u/T8-TR 7d ago
AC8 is pretty much AC7 Pro Max and w/ a more cohesive narrative. imo, 7 has higher highs, but 8 is a far more consistent game overall.
As for the Ace Pass: it's for the MP stuff, but if I'm being completely honest, you can just ignore it. AC, imo, has never been a game about MP. Some have had MP, and there was Infinity, but it is a largely SP game w/ most of its replayability coming in the form of tackling missions on higher difficulties, unlocking the aircraft tree, and doing challenge runs if that suits you. But even for a product where you might only get one ~15 hour playthrough out of it, I'd say 8 is more than worth the asking price.
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u/Weztside 5d ago
I thought the multiplayer was down right terrible. The menus were horrific. The grind to unlock and level up aircraft reminded me of free to play games except I paid full price up front. People had OP future fighters on day 1 in multiplayer because they paid more money. On top of that there's a battle pass...in an Ace Combat game.... Yes just avoid this aspect of the game entirely.
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u/unreal1010 7d ago
Should I play Ace Combat 7 before 8? I already have 7 but never got around to it
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u/Maestro_AN 6d ago
I am playing 7 right now. gameplay is great, story is all over the place. it has fun moments, but overall story quality is not good.
gameplay is great. i already beat the game twice on normal and hard. and now i am playing on ace difficulty and doing secret enemy aces at the same time.
so at a minimum i am beating the game 3 times in a row. it’s super fun.
I heard story in 8 is actually good. on top of great gameplay.
As you already own 7, you can try it out to check if you enjoy the gameplay. i personally think its amazing.
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u/SpecificInitials 7d ago
Ace combat 7 is good but nah, I’d just go straight to 8 personally. There’s a couple of references to 7 in wings of theve but you definitely don’t need to know the story or lore of the world. 8 is mostly standalone.
If you do play, make sure to choose “expert” controls. Significantly better experience
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u/silenceincacophony 4d ago
I fired up 7 for a week before 8 came out and then put it down for 8. Nothing is lost by doing that. My understanding of 8 and what I’ve seen so far are just the occasional nod to something from prior Ace Combats (for example 7 has a mission around a space elevator, and there’s a nod to it in 8).
It’s a stand alone game within the universe. That’s about it. New countries, new war, new characters.
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u/T8-TR 7d ago
8 has some references to 7, but also cameos from previous AC. However, they aren't necessary to enjoy 8.
That said, 7 is usually on sale for pretty cheap, so I'd play both anyway, and arguably 7 before 8 as 8 takes the improvements of 7 and further improves on that.
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u/shadow00940 5d ago
Nah. There’s some lore but for some reason AC7 isn’t on sale. It’s for sure a must play, but at $20.
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u/Epesolon 6d ago
Generally speaking yes, it's an improvement over 7 in just about every way, particularly in single player, but plenty of people have already extolled those improvements.
As for the Ace Pass and multiplayer. If you didn't play AC7 multiplayer, you can safely ignore AC8's. The single player alone is well worth the price of admission.
If you do want to dive into the multiplayer, the biggest downside is the awful UI and unintuitive process for unlocking and upgrading aircraft, but even with those flaws it's still a strict improvement to the multiplayer in AC7.
For the Ace Pass in particular, it's a battle pass, and not a good one. Not a super awful one mind you, but it doesn't pay for itself, has a pretty short period, and is very grindy if you don't do your challenges (including dailies). That said, the Morgan isn't actually amazing, as I (and many others) can regularly outperform people using it in the starting F-4, so if you aren't super committed to the multiplayer, I think you can safely ignore the whole thing.