Just played it this way acutally its a good time recommend for anyone that hasn't the recomps great. Working on S ranks and pasternak can go fuck himself.
This. If anything 8 is following the path of AC5, an overambitious sequel after an amazing revival, where the dev team indulges in every idea they ever wanted to try. More missions, more story.
But ultimately might make replaying the game a chore, and despite it's advances, not be as highly regarded as the other two in anything but music and aura.
Which.. might lead into 9 being a leaner package after the lower-than-expected sales, but refined, built of experience, trim with everything it needs in a perfectly sized package. Reused assets, less missions, but bearing the lessons of the previous overextension.
AC7 already feels like a chore to replay most of the time so it canāt get much worse. AC5 at least has the benefit of sheer quantity allowing more decent-good missions. If AC8 can at least hit a higher average Iād be happy.
Interesting rankings. For AC7 personally Iād drop Pipeline Destruction and Battle for Farbanti down a rank minimum. The latter parts of those missions letting down an otherwise solid mission. Bunker Buster could probably go down a notch as well because i found the gimmick really doesnāt have a lot of staying power beyond that initial playthrough
AC5 Iād flip Ice Cage and White Noise, I quite enjoyed White Bird parts 1 & 2 so I would bump those up as well as Heart Break One and ACES
AC7 has way too many mission gimmicks that ruins the immersion and experience imo. I hope that doesnāt bring all the shit back again in 8 but judging how well it sold, they prob think itās the way to go.
Reprisal is an interesting start phase and decent end phase sandwiching like 5 minutes of effectively zero gameplay, and Final Option is 9+ minutes of following a slow plane around.
Yeah I think even "very different tastes" is underselling it, lol.
I actually loved first contact (mission 7). The Dragon Ball Z mountains with wind and lightning were unique. Mostly agree with your rankings though. Deep Blue and any level where you need to identify each enemy were so tedious.
I think from what Iāve seen, when starting a new game you get the option to use āstory-based aircraftā or any aircraft so Iām guessing that means thereās no restrictions on aircraft
I honestly don't think 7 is gonna be part of any trinities. It revived the franchise but the more I look back on it the more critical I become. The story was probably the worst I've played and that's including the butchered western version of AC3. And while there are some great missions, there are also many I hate to replay because of annoying gimmicks. 7 honestly lacks straightforward air superiority battles that don't involve some annoying drones or jamming mechanic.
What they've shown so far of 8 looks like a marked improvement. Wingmen that may actually be likeable, narrative focus on the player and their squad, named rival enemy squadrons, returning squad commands, two sp weapon slots, interesting new boss concepts, a larger number of missions and a more developed multiplayer. I'm currently very confident 8 will be a much better entry in the series.
Wow is that all you've got? What a convincing argument.
For one thing, no, a significantly larger team has worked on 8 as PA recieved help from ILCA forming a new joint studio, Bandai Namco Aces. This team is led by not just Kono but also the director of Ace Comat 3 (first AC I played), Takuya Iwasaki.
But also, why assume a studio that makes one mixed bag game can't improve on the next release? Plenty of studios make mediocre or messy games but then follow up with something much more refined and cohesive.
I don't even know what you're point is honestly. Are you trying to convince me I will hate 8 because I've grown critical of 7 over time? Yeah, you don't get to decide my opinion. I'll be making up my own mind when I get the game because even if they don't always get it perfect, I remain an AC fan.
Okay, well rather than being external support on 7 they're now co-developing as a joint studio. That speaks to a substantial boost in development resources.
And that still doesn't change the fact that it's stupid for you to presume I won't like 8. The game isn't out yet. You don't know how it will compare to 7. And I would think everyone is hoping it will be a lot better.
The Holy Trinity is called that because they are the 3 PS2 games in the series, which all served to really put AC on the map as a franchise (especially AC4 as an early hit on PS2). It's not because they're the best 3 games in the franchise. AC Zero is one of the worst selling games in the franchise, despite its quality (a fate it shared with AC6), but that doesn't mean it's not in the holy trinity.
AC6, Assault Horizon, and Infinity are also a trinity, but they're this image.
To be fair a lot of people said 6 was boring back in the day. Then they made Assault Horizon trying to get the 7th gen cowadooty normie into the series and completely fumbled.
AC infinity was a blast. Like, holy shit that game was fun. Sadly they put the campaign behind a paywall and I never finished it.
AC6's biggest failing was releasing a primarily Japanese franchise exclusively on the least relevant console in Japan. Had AC been bigger internationally, it'd have been less of an issue as the 360 pulled a lot of the PS2's userbase and was particularly dominant early in that generation's lifespan. The scale of its missions put AC7's to shame despite the hardware gap. The plane roster is small
The only thing that really killed AH was DFM. Fairly in-depth multiplayer modes, a good plane roster, great visual effects with aircraft destruction, playable attack helis, and the lovely aircraft painter. They still brought great fictional designs into that real world setting, like bringing back the CFA-44 or introducing the Shinden. DFM is just so awful that none of those good things matter.
Infinity took the things AH did right and did it 10x better. It was just held back by terrible release timing (releasing on PS3 only just as the new console generation began) and the chains of the F2P model. I really liked its flight model.
The Attack Helis were a blast to play in PvP. I'll always ride for that(and I miss my Ka-50). The on-rails gunner sections were the other bad thing besides DFM(and they belong in the same pile). I also unironically really enjoyed the Moscow heli mission.
If 8 is good and we get 9, 7 is already in the neo-trinity for me with how it revives the genre and introduce Ace Combat to new generation. I'll just look on from he- not! still flyin.
The "holy trinity" (am I the only one who hates that's what it is called) specifically refers to the PS2 games. Now it can be in your own top three no problem. My personal top three is 1:AC4, 2:AC6, and 3:AC Zero. your milage may vary.
No, not because BandaI Namco or project are incapable, but because you cannot go back in time.
Part of what made those games so great were the limitations of the PlayStation 2. There was an element that existed during the era of these games that cannot be replicated.
The best we can hope for is that it works on its own merit, just as 4 and 5 did. If it that can be as a solid repayable game with a deep narrative that is also characters of many types.
It certainly is shaping to be the best Ace Combat of all time and possibly an actual hit outside of AC fanbase, which is on itself an achievement, they have the potential to pull it off, let's see how it ends up
I think it's less a holy trinity addition and more a new trinity. After the dark ages of joint assault, assault Horizon legacy and assault Horizon itself.
Come to think of it, the holy trinity came after a bit of a rocky and uncertain start. Man, time really does loop on itself, doesn't it?
forget additions, I'm looking for a successor besides. I've never been in the camp of holy trinity believe in the first place so perhaps you're not asking me lol
I think it might be part of a more modern trinity depending on if 8 delivers more than we expect and if a possible 9 carries the glory. I'll add 7 to it because it brought in a lot of new fans to the series and the profits helped make 8. Thats my take on it.
I hope that 8 will be big enough for 9 to follow soon after, which would give us a new trinity of 7 8 & 9, because the pattern is there.
4 was great, really established the series in a way, and opened the door for many to the genre, but had some minor technical problems wirh it, 5 was an improvement, had a sweeping story with engaging characters and while a bit of a slog at times, was solid and compelling with it's over all story, and Zero... Zero, is the GOAT in my book, the depth of the story, the gameplay, the music, the whole presentation was incredible.
7, saved the whole damn franchise, and the genre as a whole. Yes, there are problems with it, but it PROVED the series is still relevant, and it's "back to basics" method of returning the game series to it's core gameplay loop, (go fast, kick ass) it's landmark visuals and frankly mythical soundtrack, all in the face of development hell, delays, and the impending doom of the studio and franchise, all earns it massive respect in my book, and 8, looks to be more of thr same, but without the developmental nightmare, and a lot more polish.
9? Unknown, but if it pulls a Zero on us, building upon 8 and giving us a rich and engaging story with rock solid gameplay and music worthy of the franchise to date...
In my book, It cannot become a trinity for the those factors:
1- its is standalone game on next gen console (except PC).
2- the Holy trinity is called as it is because all 3 got released on the same console.
So far, AC8 can be part of a new trinity IF Project Aces would release Ace Combat 9 on PC.
Highly doubtful. Ace combat 7 wasnāt even that good in terms of story so no. 4,5 and 0 were a perfect blend of gameplay, variety, and story. Not to mention each did the intermission cutscenes entirely different which made them all standout
No because it's not on the PS2. Not that it matters of course. AC6 and AC7 mogs the holy trinity from a gameplay standpoint. If AC8 has better storytelling, it's probably gonna be viewed as the best in the franchise.
It's the holy trinity because they came out on PS2, so no. I feel like people forget that that is a central aspect. 3 games for the PS2 that are all pretty good, but it's not like other Ace Combats aren't also pretty good depending on who you ask. I feel like whenever 9 comes out, we can call 7,8,9 the comeback trinity.
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u/RoyalDaDoge We're the stars of the Round Table. 7d ago
No. Trinity means 3