- Platforms
- PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (Steam). No Switch 2 version has been announced and there is no VR mode.
- Release
- 2 October 2026; the Deluxe Edition started three days early, on 29 September.
- Difficulty
- Rookie, Pilot (the default), Veteran and Elite, changeable at any time. Ace opens after an Elite clear.
- Controls
- Two schemes: Standard and Expert.
- Saving
- Autosave only; there are no manual saves.
- Missables
- None: every trophy can still be earned in Free Mission after the campaign.
Decide before you take off
🎚️ Four difficulties to start with
Bandai Namco lists Rookie, Pilot, Veteran and Elite, with Pilot as the default. The setting can be changed whenever you like, so the first choice does not lock anything in. The lowest level is called Rookie, not Casual, and it comes with an option that reduces the damage you take from collisions.
🔒 The fifth one: Ace
Ace difficulty is not on the menu at first. It opens once you have finished the campaign on Elite, and the official trophy text for The Ace and Ace of Aces is written around it. If you want the platinum, that means at least two full runs: one on Elite, then one on Ace.
🎮 Standard or Expert controls
Bandai Namco offers two control schemes, Standard and Expert. No trophy depends on which one you use, so try both in training before you settle. Flight-stick users should know that the game currently offers fewer stick options than Ace Combat 7; Bandai Namco has said it is working on that.
👁️ Enemy aces need Veteran
The named enemy aces, which count towards the assault records and unlock paint schemes, only appear on Veteran or higher. If you are going to play on Pilot first, that is fine, but none of those aces will show up on that run.
Campaign, Free Mission and online are three different places
📖 The campaign
Thirty missions plus a prologue. Each mission has its own trophy, finishing all of them on any difficulty gives Promised Land, and the money you earn here (MRP) buys aircraft, special weapons and parts in the Aircraft Tree. Some missions limit you to carrier-capable aircraft or chain several sorties together with the same plane until you return to base.
🔁 Free Mission
It opens once the campaign is done and lets you replay any mission at any difficulty you have unlocked. Here you can pick any aircraft you own for every mission, with its own parts and weapons, which makes it the natural place for S-rank retries and enemy-ace hunting. The one exception is Mission 14, which is always flown in the unarmed A-6 Intruder.
🌐 ACE COMBAT ONLINE
The official FAQ is explicit: the online mode keeps its own progress and save, separate from the campaign, and its aircraft are earned separately even though the roster is the same. It runs from an Air Base hub holding up to 100 players, with Co-Op Assault and Co-Op Warfare as the core modes and crossplay between platforms. No trophy needs it: all 56 are offline.
A sensible first evening
1 · Clear one training mission
Welcome to Boot Camp is a bronze for clearing a single mission in training mode, and it is the cheapest way to try both control schemes before the prologue.
2 · Pick a difficulty you will finish
Pilot or Veteran are reasonable first runs. Veteran also spawns the enemy aces, so kills there count towards A Record of Rivalry. Elite is needed eventually to open Ace, but it can wait for a second run with better aircraft.
3 · Do not skip takeoffs or refuelling
By the Book needs every takeoff and aerial refuelling in the campaign to be completed. When the game offers to skip one, let it play instead.
4 · Get the small trophies on the way
Several bronzes are menu actions: previewing an aircraft, watching a replay, customising a skin or emblem, and buying the same aircraft for your wingmen. Grab them whenever you are in the hangar between missions.
5 · Spend on your wingmen too
Buying extra copies of good aircraft lets your wingmen fly them, and their kills help on harder difficulties. Do not grind MRP early; the later runs pay far more.
Worth knowing
- On PC the game needs Windows 11, an SSD and a graphics card with ray tracing. The official site asks for 125 GB of storage and the Steam page for 150 GB; both are Bandai Namco's own figures, so plan for the larger one.
- There are no loot boxes and no consumables, according to the official FAQ. The Ace Pass for the online mode changes every two months.
- On 9 October 2026 Bandai Namco acknowledged matchmaking problems in the online mode. The campaign is not affected.
Cross-checked
Cross-checked on 9 October 2026 against Bandai Namco's official site and online FAQ, the game's Steam store page and news posts, the trophy list on Steam, PlayStation and Xbox (the last two as mirrored by Exophase), PowerPyx's trophy guide (which KeenGamer repeats), Vandal's guides and the Ace Combat Wiki. Not from a playthrough: nobody here has played it.