Ace Combat 8 shows that old-school arcade thrills are timeless

Over the past 31 years, video games have changed a lot, especially in the realm of big-budget console releases.

Chasing high scores has fallen by the wayside to an extent, and there's sort of an expectation that everything adopts RPG elements, or chases the high of an open-world, or otherwise follows some other recent trendy design choice.

Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is not interested in most of that, judging from a short demo I got to play prior to the game's launch on Oct.

2 for PS5, Xbox Series consoles, and PC.

Over the course of two of the game's single-player missions (online multiplayer is not available for testing yet), my main takeaway was: Yep, this is still Ace Combat .

Not much has changed, and that's for the best. 'Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve' for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S $69 at Amazon Pre-order Here at Amazon Pre-order Here at Best Buy SEE ALSO: The Nintendo Switch 2 is getting a 'Legend of Zelda' makeover Ace Combat 8 is a potent injection of adrenaline Since its 1995 debut, Bandai Namco's dogfighting franchise has accumulated a dedicated fanbase of flyers, but I still find that a lot of people around me have no idea what this series is all about.

Let me briefly explain.

Nearly 100 percent of gameplay is focused on flying around real, licensed fighter jets, but most of these games add an extra layer of personality by taking place in a fictional world that has been affectionately dubbed "Strangereal" over the years.

Strangereal is culturally and technologically very similar to our world, but all of the landmasses and the countries contained within them are fake.

Most importantly, wars are still primarily fought in the skies, and becoming a fighter pilot in this society is considered the most noble thing a person can do.

These stories are often melodramatic and overwrought in a good way, with a bona fide radio drama usually playing out in your comms during missions.

Ace Combat 8 changes the formula a bit by adding some first-person cutscenes, but I didn't get to see any of those in the demo.

I did get to see one quick cutscene where a gruff video game man described the ocean as "a cradle of endless solitude," though, so the energy that's always permeated the series is still there.

The first mission I played was the game's tutorial, which quickly told me most of what I needed to know.