Gran Turismo 7 is a spectacular comeback in (almost) all fronts for the series. At its best, it truly feels like the last 30 years of GT excellence has culminated into this game. At its worst, it can remind you why many people grow so weary with the capitalistic desires of many game companies.
The Bad:
- Online only sucks. The 30+ hour server maintenance incident is a strong showcase of that.
- I'm usually not troubled with microtransactions. I can easily ignore them, provided the game isn't pay-to-win. But the game previously had a period of time where the rewards you get for doing missions are severely nerfed, and at times like that it's hard to say that this game isn't trying to get you to give it real money. Not to mention the game has weird systems that makes it more "predatory", like making some really expensive cars only purchasable for a limited time.
The Good:
- The GT Cafe singleplayer mode is simply sublime. It eases newcomers to the game perfectly by slowly introducing the various features of the game step-by-step. Not to mention that the cafe itself is cozy as heck. Everytime I come back to it after completing one of the cafe's missions, it feels so relaxing, making me more inclined to get back to racing since I'm refreshed already. I also appreciate it giving you a lot of cool cars as rewards for finishing the races. It has a surprisingly satisfying ending too.
- The DualSense features are insane. Easily the best implementation of DualSense in a game since Astro's Playroom.
- The game itself controls like a dream. All the different cars, and all the changes you make to said cars will show their difference in handling in a very palpable way, especially with the DualSense. It really helps you "connect" with the cars more, making them feel like characters that you're working with. It's not perfect (especially the Dirt races), and it's not quite "The Real Driving Simulation" that the tagline promotes, but it's so much fun to play with, and that is what truly matters.
- Doing maintenance and customization to your cars here is quite addicting. Either it's getting the performance points up, installing custom parts, or just tinkering with the handling to make the car drive more like you want, it's all so satisfying when you get it right.
- The graphics are so good! The car models, lighting and weather system in particular are the highlights. Some of the environments has noticeable flaws, but nothing too fatal. Also, the performance is rock solid on PS5.
- The license tests and mission challenges here are so good. The license tests are adequately challenging and frustrating, while the mission challenges are much crazier and harder. Both are as good as you would hope from a Gran Turismo game.
- The soundtrack is classic Gran Turismo, and I love it. Nothing like tuning cars to beautifully relaxing jazz/classical music.
- There's a encyclopedia-esque section of the game where you can learn about the history of many automotive companies and cars, and at the same time also learn about general world history. It's a totally unnecessary, but charmingly presented element of the game that adds so much character to the game.
- The Scapes mode is a photographer's wet dream. The tech they're using for incorporating real world photographs into actual 3D scenes is so good.
Despite the flaws, I'm completely in love with this game. It will be interesting to see how the game evolves and changes as Polyphony keeps updating it.
The Bad:
- Online only sucks. The 30+ hour server maintenance incident is a strong showcase of that.
- I'm usually not troubled with microtransactions. I can easily ignore them, provided the game isn't pay-to-win. But the game previously had a period of time where the rewards you get for doing missions are severely nerfed, and at times like that it's hard to say that this game isn't trying to get you to give it real money. Not to mention the game has weird systems that makes it more "predatory", like making some really expensive cars only purchasable for a limited time.
The Good:
- The GT Cafe singleplayer mode is simply sublime. It eases newcomers to the game perfectly by slowly introducing the various features of the game step-by-step. Not to mention that the cafe itself is cozy as heck. Everytime I come back to it after completing one of the cafe's missions, it feels so relaxing, making me more inclined to get back to racing since I'm refreshed already. I also appreciate it giving you a lot of cool cars as rewards for finishing the races. It has a surprisingly satisfying ending too.
- The DualSense features are insane. Easily the best implementation of DualSense in a game since Astro's Playroom.
- The game itself controls like a dream. All the different cars, and all the changes you make to said cars will show their difference in handling in a very palpable way, especially with the DualSense. It really helps you "connect" with the cars more, making them feel like characters that you're working with. It's not perfect (especially the Dirt races), and it's not quite "The Real Driving Simulation" that the tagline promotes, but it's so much fun to play with, and that is what truly matters.
- Doing maintenance and customization to your cars here is quite addicting. Either it's getting the performance points up, installing custom parts, or just tinkering with the handling to make the car drive more like you want, it's all so satisfying when you get it right.
- The graphics are so good! The car models, lighting and weather system in particular are the highlights. Some of the environments has noticeable flaws, but nothing too fatal. Also, the performance is rock solid on PS5.
- The license tests and mission challenges here are so good. The license tests are adequately challenging and frustrating, while the mission challenges are much crazier and harder. Both are as good as you would hope from a Gran Turismo game.
- The soundtrack is classic Gran Turismo, and I love it. Nothing like tuning cars to beautifully relaxing jazz/classical music.
- There's a encyclopedia-esque section of the game where you can learn about the history of many automotive companies and cars, and at the same time also learn about general world history. It's a totally unnecessary, but charmingly presented element of the game that adds so much character to the game.
- The Scapes mode is a photographer's wet dream. The tech they're using for incorporating real world photographs into actual 3D scenes is so good.
Despite the flaws, I'm completely in love with this game. It will be interesting to see how the game evolves and changes as Polyphony keeps updating it.