First off, I've been playing Ace Combat since Zero on the PS2. When I finished it, I picked up 5 and 4 as well, though I never made the jump to the 360 to play 6. I tried Infinity but its free to play model was deflating, and I never played AH due to their abandonment of Strangereal.
When 7 finally came out, I was excited and even pleasantly surprised by how fun it was despite its troubled development, and I was happy they went back to Strangereal. 8's announcement took me completely by surprise. To prepare for its release, I went back and emulated Zero and defeated all 169 aces for the first time. I also went back and played through 7's campaign one more time.
So I went into 8 thinking I was ready for anything they could throw at me. I was comically, painfully, monumentally wrong.
I find myself at a loss to succinctly describe how dense and dark AC8's story is. I was in a near constant state of panic for missions 5, 8, 9, 15, and 19. I wasn't expecting how many times this game would twist the knife on you. I was wholly unprepared for the themes it fires at you, it was an unrelenting barrage on all channels: in the music lyrics, in the radio chatter, in the facial expressions, in the voiced cutscenes. And it was so consistent in its messaging, not once did one message undermine another, never did I have to suspend disbelief with "haha war is bad but planes are rad."
There's so many themes and symbols it makes my head spin. Rex not being the only imposter, propaganda being an evil even if used to inspire and unite, multiple characters being immigrants, the nature of loss and grief, hope and faith, leaving and returning. Sheep showing up as a symbol multiple times is a whole box of meaning I don't know how to unpack. The subversion of the player being this all powerful force of nature, with more than half the missions being an escort or protection duty indicating you can't do it all on your own.
I hope someone smarter than me can put to words the way this game tells its story. There's too many things to talk about. I'm astounded.
