(Played it on a PS 2 emulator)
Many people assume that a racing game's quality is determined by how new it is. It is a logical conclusion. After all, why play a two-decade old game when a modern counterpart exists? It is because of where the line between simulator and game is drawn. Gran Turismo 4s success doesn’t come from it being a realistic simulator, but rather due to its well-paced career mode. The large car roster and high polish typically seen in the Gran Turismo series are just the cherry on top. While playing, I always had something to do, and I was never required to grind to unlock more of the game.
This is why I believe that even after 20 years and with many newer releases, Gran Turismo 4 is still a worthy classic for anyone that is a fan of the simcade genre.

Story
There isn’t one. For once, that is a good thing. A meaningful storyline would be next to impossible to implement, and anything else would detract from the experience.

Mechanics and gameplay
When you first begin career mode in GT 4 you have to pick a started car, that inevitably will qualify for a racing series. After the completion of that series, you are rewarded with money and a prize car, that qualifies for a different race series. That is the main gameplay loop that keeps GT 4 engaging. There is always a new race yet to be attempted or other events like licence tests that require only skill to complete. I found it incredibly fun to simply not grind for anything and get by with what I was given.
The 700+ cars and 50 tracks certainly help keeping things fresh.
I can’t tell you how realistic the handling is, due to never having driven an actual car. What I can say is that driving feels satisfying and gives enough of a challenge to where being exceptionally good requires a lot of skill and effort.


Graphics/Artstyle
It is a PS 2 game, so amazing graphics shouldn’t be expected. With the magic of emulators, one can make de-age GT 4 by 5 to 10 years and make it look pretty good. Unfortunately, nothing can fix the car sounds. They are honestly the biggest flaw here.
I don’t see much praise given for how aesthetically pleasing GT 4 is. Almost every part of the game has a very “clean”, professional look, treading a fine line between overly minimalistic and excessively artistic. It gives it a look that is rarely seen in any other game, probably due to the attention to detail required to pull it off.

Atmosphere/Immersion
Weirdly immersive. I feel like an aspirating racecar driver, and the UI is their way of visualizing where/what to do next.

Soundtrack
The OST has a similar aesthetic that I mentioned earlier. It fits very well with the rest of the game and is very memorable. I played GT 4 a few months ago, and somehow the race menu music already evokes nostalgia.
During races there is a radio that plays a plethora of songs from many different artists, they are alright, but can get somewhat boring at times. My personal favourite is “Soul Surfer” by Daiki Kasho.

Final Thoughts
I spent an embarrassingly long time (like 6 hours) trying to get gold on B-5. It was harder than any boss in any video game I’ve played.

not a huge fan of simulators but i had this so it was part of my quest to finish all my physical gamesn and tbh this game has aged surprisingly well obviously these were always aiming for realism but there was only so much you could do back then and at that line where one must start faking what could not yet be redender gt4 has some really nice aesthetics the lighting is very moody the backgrounds while very 2 dimensional are very detailed I am honestly surprised how well this holds up. what hasn't aged well is the automatic system though lol it kind of shits itself often

In 2004, the Gran Turismo series-only 7 years past its debut-was already one of the biggest franchises in gaming history. Its first two titles pushed the limits of what was possible on the PS1, and were two of the system's three highest selling games of all time. And while the series debut had slightly higher sales, the second in the series was a distinctly better package, offering more tracks, more cars, and more racing modes. As it turns out, that trend would very much continue for Sony's second system, too. Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec was a graphical revolution for its time, and once again, was a top 3 seller for the PS2. And once again, Gran Turismo 4 offered everything in GT3, with the content dial turned up to 11-earning itself a spot right below its predecessor on the PS2 all time sales list. But for many, GT4 offers more than just an enhanced version of its prequel, and to many, it represents the peak of the Gran Turismo series.

For all the benefits the jump to the 6th generation gave, the biggest flaw in GT3's design was clear. There was simply not enough variety in the gameplay, the cars, or the tracks to make it justify its length. All of which, luckily, will likely never be said about Gran Turismo 4. The numbers speak for themselves in this regard; almost four times as many cars, almost two times as many tracks, and over twice as many events. So brimming with content is GT4 that it sometimes makes its predecessor feel like a demo. And even with the extra content, the game doesn't feel lacking in polish or passion. And through that passion, a game that might otherwise have held a players interest for a few hours can now keep them attached for dozens. There's still way too much content in this game for any reasonable person to be expected to complete, and of course, only diehard simulation racing fans will be able to stave off the repetitive feeling from the later parts of the game, but its impressive that GT4 works for as long as it does.

Ironically, perhaps the most fun parts of the game come from the License Tests, which offers a definitive marker to test your skills against. There's more tests than in previous events, and while the 1 lap challenges can be a bit frustrating, it serves as a good benchmark for your driving skills and mechanical understanding. The Driving Missions as well are a nice addition, even if some of them-such as the infamous Nürburgring Challenge #34-take way too much time to even prepare to attempt, let alone actually attempt. (In the previously mentioned example, each attempt demands your car sit idle for 123 seconds, and you have to wait in real time.) But a good challenge is, regrettably, something you don't get much of in the core racing mode. The computer AI is not particularly impressive, especially for a realistic racing sim. As a result, it's often difficult to make a clean overtake without competitors making some kind of contact, and not super difficult to do much of anything else, even with similar or slightly underpowered machinery. And in the game's new B-Spec mode, where you take on the role of strategist while AI controls your car, doesn't fare much better. It's a nice addition in theory, especially for the extremely long endurance races, but it's not something you can really rely on unless using a far superior car.

Of course, to a simulation racing aficionado, Gran Turismo 4 is an absolute blessing. It takes the great framework from GT3 and expands upon it without sacrificing quality. Even though its been far surpassed technically since its release, many fans of the series still view it as one of the best GT has to offer, and it's not hard to see why, even from the perspective of a racing novice. It's an extremely polished title that will no doubt deliver a lot of excitement and fun before it wears out its welcome on you, which could be anywhere from 20 hours to 200. Full of tools to push drivers to their absolute limit, it's no surprise Gran Turismo 4 is still fondly remembered as a great title, and one of the best in the business of simulation racing.

True rating:
Gameplay & Mechanics: 10/10= ⭐️1
Graphics & Visuals: 10/10= ⭐️1
Sound & Music: 9/10= ⭐️0.9
Quality & Polishing: 9/10= ⭐️0.9
Setting & Campaign: 10/10= ⭐️1

1 + 1 + 0.9 + 0.9 + 1 = ⭐️4.8

The best singleplayer experience in the series and maybe the best singleplayer car game of all time, no even mentioning is one of the best games period. My absolute top favorite game has enless content, an amazing soundtrack, incredible handling and a utterly inmaculate presentation. If you like cars this will be like heaven, this is the best entry point of the series if you are searching for a singleplayer only experience.

This game can be overwhelming for those who don't know much about cars but the difficulty is kinda easy for a good portion of the campaign and you can complete the main game without getting into the technical stuff (A guide can be useful as well, avoid excessive amounts of grinding searching what are the best events for the time and money expended accesible with your licence level), just focus on the experience of driving the cars, how they react to your imputs, learning how you can squeeze their performance in the track, that is the real challenge that will keep you invested, this game is not all about completing tasks because there is too much content, in fact, I frequently procastinate the campaign just to test the cars that I had unlocked in Arcade Mode, just me, the cars, the road and the timer, of course this doesn't mean that thats the only thing you have to do, enjoy every part of the game as something more casual if you want, but enjoy the drive as much as you can.

By the way, surely you'll want to upgrade your cars sooner or later, you can make this simple by just buying the upgrades and nothing else, adjusting or tuning anything digit by digit is never necessary, just make sure you choose a good car that meets the requirements for the event, this requirements will never be something too complicated. Be advised that you can't drive like in a Need for speed, but it's not "The Real Driving Simulator" either, that's just marketing, it's not that realistic even comparing it with others driving sims of the time, drive with your brain but don't be scared of finding out your limits, rest assure that your rivals will be easy to beat if you follow these tips, if you approach this game in a slow but consistent manner, by the time you get to the hard events you will probably be used to the game, because the game is too damn long, just like this review LMAO