After spending quite a few hours with Ace Combat 8, my overall impression has unfortunately become much more negative than I initially expected.

Visually, the game is fantastic. The improved graphics, lighting, clouds, rain, thunderstorms and weather effects create an amazing atmosphere. I also really appreciate the return of squadron commands, because being able to give orders to your wingmen makes them feel much more useful and involved than they did in Ace Combat 7. I’m also glad that Post-Stall Maneuvers are still part of the game.

However, my biggest problem is the flight handling.

Compared to Ace Combat 7, the aircraft feel significantly heavier and more sluggish. Direction changes are less responsive, and even with maneuverability parts equipped, that heavy feeling never really disappears. At times, it honestly feels like you are trying to fly a truck through the sky.

The High-G Turn is one of the clearest examples. In Ace Combat 7, you could perform High-G Turns much more aggressively and use them repeatedly during intense dogfights. In Ace Combat 8, the delay before you can perform another High-G Turn feels noticeably longer. Even with the appropriate parts installed, the aircraft never reaches the same level of responsiveness that AC7 had.

This already reduces the intensity and dynamism of dogfights, but the problem becomes even more noticeable in multiplayer, where fast reactions, precise positioning and aggressive maneuvering are far more important.

Unfortunately, the multiplayer itself is where my disappointment became much bigger.

What I loved about Ace Combat 7 multiplayer was being able to jump into matches, choose the aircraft and setup I wanted, play with friends and simply enjoy competitive dogfights.

Ace Combat 8 feels completely different.

There is no proper option to create a private lobby and simply play exclusively with friends. Instead, you are forced into a progression system where you have to spend a huge amount of time grinding before you can access the aircraft and equipment you actually want to use.

The progression feels far too restrictive for an arcade combat flight game.

Ace Combat has never been an MMORPG, yet the multiplayer now feels like it has borrowed too many ideas from that kind of progression system. Instead of giving players freedom, it constantly limits them through ranks, unlocks and grinding.

What makes this even more frustrating is that the XP gain appears to be fixed at around 100 XP per match, meaning there is very little you can do to accelerate the process even if you perform extremely well.

For me, this completely misses what made Ace Combat 7 multiplayer enjoyable.

Players who supported Ace Combat 7 for years should not feel like they are being punished by having to grind endlessly just to regain the freedom and aircraft selection they already enjoyed in the previous game.

Ace Combat 8 absolutely improves the series on a technical and visual level. The graphics, atmosphere, weather effects and squadron commands are excellent.

But when it comes to the two things that matter most to me, flight handling and multiplayer freedom, Ace Combat 7 is still clearly superior.

Ace Combat 8 looks better.

Ace Combat 7 flies better.

And in my opinion, Ace Combat 7 understood much better what made Ace Combat multiplayer fun in the first place.

If I had not already invested so many hours into the campaign, I would seriously consider refunding the game.

Who else feels the same way?