Ace Troops had great potential. While it didn’t fully live up to it for various reasons, it still managed to successfully portray the life of military personnel. What initially seemed like the beginning of a strong friendship between two male leads and a female lead soon took a downturn, turning into an annoying love triangle that, despite its frustrations, was satisfyingly resolved in the end. Watching the characters grow from new recruits to senior colonels over the span of 40 years was gratifying. Their different personalities and backgrounds influenced their interactions with other characters, as well as their decisions and life choices. While they each built their own lives and careers, they always circled back to each other.

One of the bigger issues I had with this drama was the relationship between Gao Liang and Gu Yiye. They were supposed to be best friends and rivals, but while their rivalry was effectively portrayed, their friendship fell flat. Most of the time, it seemed like they couldn't stand each other, while the drama tried to force us to see them as best friends.

Character development was another issue, especially with Gao Liang. His development felt inconsistent. In the beginning, he was portrayed as a big, oafish troublemaker - thoughtless but kind-hearted. Later, he transformed into a super-soldier tactician capable of anything and everything. The transition between these two extremes wasn’t smooth, and it felt jarring. Other characters, however, were more consistent in their development. What I appreciated was how all of the characters were portrayed as human. They made mistakes and did foolish things, but they weren’t painted as villains. Instead, they were given chances to redeem themselves, and for most characters, my feelings towards them fluctuated throughout the 40 episodes.

As for the acting, I think all the actors did a solid job. My personal favorite was Xiao Zhan as Gu Yiye. His performances in the more dramatic and emotional scenes were heart-wrenching, and he had me in tears more than once. The other two leads were also good, with Elaine Zhong standing out. Although I didn’t like Jiang Nan Zheng as a character, I thought Elaine's portrayal was spot on.

Other aspects I loved about this drama included the subtle humor, the visually beautiful sceneries, the action scenes (fighting, war, and drills were done really well), and the lack of excessive CCP propaganda. I honestly expected more of it, but what we got was the right amount of patriotism, which I think is typical of military-themed shows.

I do think the time skips could’ve been handled better, especially toward the end. But I suspect that the cutting of many scenes affected the final product.

All in all, while Ace Troops had its flaws, I think it’s a good drama that successfully showed the evolution of the Chinese army through the lives of its three main leads. It has a slower pace and a lot of episodes with little action, which might bore some viewers. But if you're a fan of any of these actors, it’s definitely worth watching.