Ace Combat 8 HORI Flight Stick: Innovation and Regression?
- Aaron "Ribbon-Blue" Mendoza
- 23 minutes ago
- 8 min read
Thoughts on a New Flight Stick in a Tradition of Ace Combat Branded Hardware with a Background of Many PC Based Options
Keeping with "tradition" HORI, a manufacturer of licensed controllers for Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony, opened pre-orders for a branded Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve flight stick. As someone that owns all but one of these Ace Combat branded limited run devices, I've got a few opinions. Especially on compatibility, price point and its twin-stick functionality.
Overview: AC8 HORI Flight Stick
As of the time this article has been written, HORI has sales pages up for their markets in Europe and Japan. It is safe to assume the store for USA will be offering pre-orders not too long from now. I suggest reading the European sales page to see the official explanation of the product for context. There are a few specific things that caught my attention.
Ace Combat 8 branded HORI Flightstick. (HORI)
Dedicated High-G Button
The dedicated High G Button has been a standard part of flight controllers designed for Ace Combat since 2007. With the games released since then having varying forms High-G turning and Post Stall Maneuvers that rely on the player pressing a combination of two buttons at certain airspeed to perform these maneuvers. Having a single button for it on a flight stick is a the most realistic way to do it on a device like this.
A button on the backside of the flight stick near the base of the stick is the High G Maneuver button. The button placement matches something similar to the Paddle Switch in Boeing Legacy Hornets and Super Hornets which allow for the G-Limiter to be overridden when needed in combat.
Ambidextrous Design
Immediately the first thing my eyes fell on was the pair of small throttles mounted on both sides of the joystick base. This seems to be a key part of its ambidextrous design. For Ace Combat branded flight sticks this is a first. Except for one instance in 2001, all branded flight sticks have been in the standard separate stick and throttle Hands On Throttle and Stick (HOTAS) set for right hand dominate use.
While I do not have a lot of experience with joysticks that have the throttle installed directly to their base, there are many successful devices that have used this design in the past. It works, but how the device is mounted is a major factor. If not sitting on a desk or table, it would need to be sat on the lap or thigh of a player with their throttle hand also acting as an anchor to steady the device while their other hand controls the flight stick.
However, I believe the ambidextrous design is more for tailored for what is perhaps the signature capability to the newest HORI flightstick. We'll get to that a bit later.
8 Reprogrammable Buttons, 25 Physical Buttons
In total this flight stick has 25 physical buttons. Facing the player, there are two rows of four buttons. This block of eight buttons can be reprogrammed with up two to functions per button. That is 16 buttons with a modifier. These are detailed in a video from HORI Japan's social media.
This is a curious amount of functionality for a "game console controller". From what we know of Ace Combat 8 so far, there are certainly not enough in game functions to fill out 16 buttons. This is not even factoring in the button on the flight stick itself and what seems to be another three buttons beneath throttle quadrant area. In total this flight stick has 25 physical buttons or 33 possible functions if you add in the modifier for the 8 reprogrammable buttons. This leads my thoughts into extended compatibility.
Compatibility
Licensed by Bandai Namco Entertainment with a Sony license application in progress, this single USB device flight stick is compatible with PlayStation 5 and Personal Computers using the windows operating system. Oddly enough the PlayStation 4 is also listed as compatible though Ace Combat 8 will not be available on that older game console. Still the greatest point here is its PC compatibility due to this being provided by Xinput and DirectInput. It ensures all axis and buttons on the device can be used for various PC games.
As someone that plays multiple flight games and simulators these days, a device with as much compatibility as possible is an important part of justifying a price point for me. Gone are the days where a controller works on a single game console or a specific type of personal computer operating system.
Price Point Consideration
For the price of 129.99 EUR for the upcoming HORI Flightstick for Ace Combat 8, there is one thing I am critical of. I own all but one of the Ace Combat branded flight sticks and now own many other high fidelity flight simulation devices. To understand why I feel the way I do, first we need a bit of a history lesson.
Branded Hardware Tradition
HORI has been at the heart of branded Ace Combat controllers since the beginning. The first flight stick came with the release of Ace Combat 04 (2001) on the PlayStation 2. Its design was a bit unorthodox with the base of the controller being a rectangular shape, the left-handed throttle and right-handed stick also helped stabilize the controller as it sat on the player's lap or on a table with suction cups to hold it.
The flight stick for Ace Combat 5 (2004) was the HORI Flight Stick 2. In North America only 20,000 flight stick bundles were produced. These flight sticks followed a design pattern which closely matched the physical designs of the Saitek X36 and X45, which were en vogue in the early 2000s. These matched the design you would expect of combat aircraft when you imagine its cockpit. The HORI Flight Stick 2 was compatible with all Ace Combat games on the PlayStation 2.
The HORI Ace Edge flight stick for the Xbox 360 was available in a bundle for Ace Combat 6 (2007). It had a very similar physical design to the PlayStation 2 flight stick. This stick was notable for having the first dedicated button for High G Turns. Something the following flight sticks would incorporate in one way or another. It did have limited utility with other flight games on the Xbox 360. It also could be used on personal computers in a limited capacity if you used a middleware to do so.
Ace Combat 7 (2019) is the title that had the most options for flight sticks.
Thrustmaster had an Ace Combat 7 branded T.Flight series HOTAS for either the PlayStation 4/5 or Xbox One/Series X. Anyone that knows flight games and sims most likely knows the storied T.Flight series. It truly is one of the few budget priced flight controllers that "just works" most of the time. Even in 2026 some of the Skyward Flight Media staff still keep at least one version of the T.Flight series within their collections as it is compatible with just about any flight game you use with it.
The HORI entry seemed to be an upgraded version of the HORI Flight Stick 3 which was compatible with the PlayStation 3. The Ace Combat branded HORI Flight Stick 4 came in PlayStation 4 (also compatible with PlayStation 3) and Xbox One versions which were tailor made for Ace Combat 7 but did work on other flight games on those game consoles in varying degrees. PC compatibility was possible but questionable as it was recognized as a gamepad by computers with limited access to its flight focused capabilities. There were some buttons that simply did not work on PC for technical reasons.
Twin Stick Turbulence
While the compact design of the HORI flightstick for Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve provides everything someone that is playing on a game console would need. As a standalone unit the stick is pretty decent.
As a twinstick? Well...
In order to get the HOTAS experience that Ace Combat fans have had access to over the past 25 years or so, you would need to purchase two HORI flightsticks. This configuration is standard for space flight simulators, but for flight sims within atmosphere it is unusual. Even more so for Ace Combat.
Ace Combat 8 HORI flight sticks in twin stick configuration. (HORI)
The two flightsticks can be linked directly to one another with a cable. One of these two units then connects to a game console or PC with a single USB. This is the only way to get one stick as a designated throttle and the other stick as the standard aircraft directional control flight stick. Before shipping and taxes, that is a total of 259.98 EUR (roughly 300.00 USD at the moment).
From the point of view of a player on game consoles, this may be one of the more straightforward ways to get that dedicated throttle. It even opens the door for twin stick use in the few space games/sims on game consoles.
For me, someone that could be considered a "power user", I have some pretty mixed feelings on this.
Personal Computer Options
Coming from the point of view of someone that will be playing Ace Combat 8 on personal computer, the price of gaining a dedicated throttle being a bit over 300.00 USD makes me wonder why someone would go this route instead of investing in a different, full HOTAS combo from other manufactures. A few examples come to mind.
The Logitech X56 is still out there as a solid, what I would consider, standard medium entry HOTAS. At $250.00 USD it comes with 189 programmable buttons, twin independent throttles, it also is a single USB device as the throttle quadrant plugs into the flight stick base rather than directly into the PC.
Keeping with the between $300.00 USD to $400.00 USD price point, VKB Sim has STECS Modern Throttle Mini quadrants and Gladiator NXT flightsticks that combined land within that price range. Of particular note, the Gladiators can be upgraded at a later date with new grips. Your NXT EVO Space Combat Edition which is more like a general 4th generation military configuration could be quickly swapped out for a more aircraft specific handle like the F-14 Combat Edition. The same with the throttle quadrant handles.
 STECS Modern Throttle Mini and Gladiator NXT EVO Space Combat Edition Gladiator (VKB Sim)
For about $250.00 USD you could get a Thrustmaster T Flight series bundle that comes with rudder pedals. This HOTAS has less buttons and modifiers compared to the upcoming HORI flightstick, but it does provide a dedicated throttle and has an expansion port to allow Thrustmaster rudder pedals to be plugged into the T Flight maintaining its single USB device compatibility which is vital for use in game consoles. The T Flight Series has also been used with Sony and Microsoft game consoles since the 2010s. Note how even the new HORI flight stick releasing later in 2026 is still PlayStation 4 compatible. Making sure you have the right T.Flight for the right console is important, but the price point is the same.
Similarly, the Thrustmaster T16000M bundle is about $280.00 USD. This also includes rudder pedals. Besides the buttons on the flight stick itself, this option gives 16 action buttons on the throttle, multiple HAT switches and rudder pedals. Though this would not be a single USB solution suitable for game console use, it is perfectly fine for PC flying. It can also be used with the Thrustmaster T.A.R.G.E.T software which can connect all Thrustmaster devices to appear as a single USB device digitally, increasing that hardware's compatibility even with games that are not designed to recognize multiple input devices.
I do not have a lot of strong criticism for a single Ace Combat 8 branded HORI Flightstick. It is a functional device with more customization than many of the previous branded flight sticks ever had. It having Hall effect sensors does extend its lifespan a bit as well, but the twinstick functionality really is a serious point of contention.
Consider the frequency of which you play flight games, the platform you play on and your potential plans for playing future flight games before investing on the twinstick option.
About the Writer
Co-founder of Skyward Flight Media. After founding Electrosphere.info, the first English Ace Combat database, he has been involved in creating flight game-related websites, communities, and events since 2005. He explores past and present flight games and simulators with his extensive collection of game consoles and computers. [Read Staff Profile]
