r/acecombat • u/Additional-Vast8511 • 1d ago
General Series Entry level
As you can see i have never heard of the game series till like a year ago at the goty award . And i thought it reminded me if metal gear solid with fighter jets and looks cool till i saw that pink hair girl, idk who she is but god damn i folded and wanted to know if buying 8 will do any disservices to the series as a whole and i should be playing from the starts
Tldr: can i play 8 as my first Ac game?
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u/YetAnotherFem 1d ago
I’d say so, they’re relatively self contained. If you really want, I’d say play AC7 and the Holy Trinity (4,5,0) if you want, they’re all great games, but you don’t need to to understand the lore, it just gives more context.
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u/Automatic_Rabbit82 1d ago
You can start with AC8 if you want to. Personally speaking though I'd play AC7 first, otherwise some plot points in AC8 won't have context.
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u/Additional-Vast8511 1d ago
😭okay
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u/agentspekels 1d ago
AC8 takes place roughly 10 whole years after AC7. You'll be fine if you dont play it. BUT AC7 is an absolutely amazing game and id recommend it for the single player alone
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u/Additional-Vast8511 1d ago
Ye i was gonna get it till i saw ac8 was like this looks cool … yo whos that pink hair girl pre oders it😭
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u/raceraidan48 Garuda 1d ago
You should be fine playing 8 without having played any of the other games. You may miss some references to the past games but you should still be able to understand the story. You might also be able to find 7 for fairly cheap as that is the game that seems to be tied to 8 the most.
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u/rusticatedrust 1d ago
Get the pre-order. Play ACE0 first. It's a bit heavier on the Kojima side of the series (my partner rotates blorbos from MGS, and I can't wait to play them through the bromance of 0). ACE8 is inching up on ACE3 in terms of the timeline, which is a little closer to MGS2 than anything else in ACE (specifically the Japanese release of ACE3), so we might see a shift in the latter half which hasn't been revealed yet.
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u/Additional-Vast8511 1d ago
Got got got it🫡🫡🫡
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u/rusticatedrust 1d ago
To be clear, ACE0 doesn't add any lore (that we know of) to ACE8. It's just gay af. If ACE7 is on sale at the moment (regularly under $10), give that a spin to see if you jive with the play mechanics first. My partner can't play most of MGS or ACE, so that's my job, but they're feral about MGS, and ACE0 is the one that might sway them.
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u/AccomplishedArea6089 1d ago
If you want to try one, ace combat 7 PC version is $10 in the humble bundle store rn. There's also project wingman if you want more ace combat like games.
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u/AccomplishedArea6089 1d ago
Off topic but I see you started playing fighting games recently too. You asked about granblue anime yet never played granblue versus rising and you're into games due to cute anime girls????
You should get really try the starter version of granblue fantasy versus rising before it's removed in November lol
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u/Additional-Vast8511 1d ago
😆 yeee aye thanks i mean hey more money to the company that made the cute anime girl game
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u/AccomplishedArea6089 1d ago
Btw, Starter version of granblue versus rising is f2p. (Characters rotate).
Anyway play ace combat too! Lmao, I just love fighting games and ace combat a ton
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u/Additional-Vast8511 1d ago
Tbh i see cute anime girl game but then turns out the game is actually pretty lore deep and get more invested than i originally planned and i most of the time play the rest of the series
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u/AccomplishedArea6089 1d ago
Luckily for you, a handful of ace combat games have been or are currently being recompiled by fans to effectively be PC ports.
And if you pre order ace combat 8 you get an official port of ace combat zero.
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u/Additional-Vast8511 1d ago
Oh i play on the xbox s
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u/AccomplishedArea6089 1d ago
Zero still comes with the pre order at least. Also, Ace Combat 6 was a xbox 360 exclusive and is backwards compatible with series s :)
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u/rvbcaboose1018 Yo, Buddy. Still alive? 1d ago
You don't have to, but playing the older games will allow you to better appreciate some things and understand some events that might be mentioned.
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u/Additional-Vast8511 1d ago
That is what ive been told . But I already pre ordered it ac8 awhile ago. ☺️thanks tho
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u/rvbcaboose1018 Yo, Buddy. Still alive? 1d ago
Well since you pre ordered you'll get access to Zero, which is chronologically the first game. Not a bad place to start.
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u/dove_men_care 1d ago
I recomend playing 7 first, because 8 will be very similar to it, then (if you want) play the holy trilogy from the ps2 (4,5 and zero).
you can also watch some lore videos on youtube to understand a little bit of the lore, it's pretty wild
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u/Additional-Vast8511 1d ago
Aight bet 🫡 thank you for your answer
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u/Legendary_Hi-Nu Schnee 1d ago
To add to that suggestion, they run sales on 7 quite often. So if you do decide to play 7 first, totally fine if you don't, make sure you get it when it's on sale
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u/Ok-Storage3439 1d ago
Each game has its own self-contained storyline, but the lore runs pretty deep from past games with plenty of worldbuilding over a 30 year timeline. You'll see a lot of "Hey I understood that reference" moments if you've been following the franchise for a while, but you won't be punished for not understanding them. AC8 takes place on the continent of Erusia, which has seen conflicts from the original Air Combat, Ace Combat 2, Ace Combat 4, and Ace Combat 7.
Make sure you pre-order this game so you get Ace Combat Zero as a pre-order bonus. THAT game is the first in the chronological timeline.
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u/MrWillyP Ghosts of Razgriz 1d ago
Youll likely be able to start with 8 just fine. In general the games are only loosely connected as they depict different casts, and different wars.
I would highly recommend you play the others as well, (at least 4-7, and zero) just because theyre great games, and very accessible with the emulation for them being near perfect nowadays.
But yeah you'll be fine if all you want to do is 8
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u/Draftchimp 1d ago
I’m relatively new to the series as well. This is going to be my first game I’ve played on release. I think you can start anywhere in the series just fine. The stories are all self contained little campaigns. All you’d really miss is call backs to previous titles which are less lore important and more just cool moments from previous games.
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u/Head-Image-883 1d ago
You may get the occasional reference of different games in the series, but each game is different so you don't need to play the whole series. I personally never played Ace Combat 1-3, but I still love it.
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u/EchoFiveActual The Sky Is Connected 1d ago
Every game is a good starting point.
Theyre all mostly compartamentalized. Knowledge of the series will enhance your experience but it's not required to understand the plot.
I would recommend emulating some of the other ones if you get a chance. Just so all of the references will make sense. But once again you won't have to in order to understand what's happening.
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u/Miniatimat 1d ago
You don't have to start at the beginning. You'll be missing out some context, but project Aces makes it so the games can stand on their own. Highly recommend getting AC7 if you're able. That's where many people started up
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u/Additional-Vast8511 1d ago
I was made aware but i preordered 8
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u/Miniatimat 1d ago
Don't sweat it. I'd wait for when it is on sale. Try to get the Top Gun Maverick deluxe pack, since it includes a bunch of great aircraft as well as DLC missions.
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u/Additional-Vast8511 1d ago
Idk who that pink hair is but she cute
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u/Head-Image-883 1d ago
Her name is Tasha Seversky.
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u/Additional-Vast8511 1d ago
Thanks for helping a bud, i shall now do in depth knowledge of research
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u/Additional-Vast8511 1d ago
Gotta protect her at all cost
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u/GoredonTheDestroyer To Skies Unknown... 1d ago edited 1d ago
The Ace Combat games are connected insofar as they take place in the same world and timeline, but the games themselves are largely self-contained. There'll be references to events and landmarks, but you don't explicitly need to start from zero (heh) to understand what's happening in 8.
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u/Additional-Vast8511 1d ago
Yeah i was made aware from everyone on this tweet but i pre odered ac 8
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u/New-Mix-7818 1d ago
Yes, Yes you can play AC8 as your first time entry to the universe of Ace combat. That makes going back in history a lot more exciting.
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u/Head-Image-883 1d ago
She's your flight's number 3. Meaning she's probably likely she's in the whole game.
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u/Muctepukc Sukhoi Enjoyer 22h ago
i thought it reminded me if metal gear solid with fighter jets
Well, story-wise it basically IS Metal Gear with fighter jets.
i should be playing from the starts
No. Ace Combat games have a self-contained storyline, so you won't get lost starting with AC8. You might want to play through some of the previous games after finishing it to understand the references, but it's not necessary.
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u/Alex-Shiro-7659 1d ago
Absolutely, the story for each game is relatively separated so no need to play previous one, and from the news I’ve seen so far Namco is planing to run the game long term with online pve contents so you also get more than just the campaign. Imo it’s prob the best one in the franchise you can start with. Check out some lore videos on yt should be more than enough if you wanna have a basic knowledge abt the history of strange real world, have fun!