It's honestly kind of hilarious how batshit insane diehard GT/Forza fans end up getting, especially when you consider that neither title is really considered to be full sim. It's like when Eggman completely lost his shit because I dared to criticize some of the worst elements of GT5 (which. from what I can gather, is considered by fans to be the worst game in the franchise, at least prior to this recent GT7 debacle). Pretty sure his meltdown is documented on this iteration of s.net if you need a laugh one of these days.
Well to be fair Eggman would argue over everything...I had my share of internet nerd arguing with him. Didn't help that I wasn't exactly that mature back then either. I think he was bad mouthing Shadow Complex for not being Super Metroid, and like, it isn't, but doesn't mean it can't still be a great metroidvania (which it IS). Not all games need to be the best ever to be worth playing, and no game is immune from criticism.
I dunno. I love both franchises for different reasons. Not sure why the concept that both games can be flawed in certain ways is controversial, but, y'know, console wars.
Pretty pointless to pledge allegiance to a multi million/billion dollar company who literally doesn't care about you. I do see less of that in our age bracket, so maybe it's an age thing.
If you've ever played Far Cry 3: you remember the bit at the beginning where it showed the pictures of their vacation shenanigans?
I beat the game, but I swear those "friends" were meant to be insufferable? That said, I do have less tolerance for that stuff now a days, I'm not opposed to skipping dialogue/story anymore if it isn't entertaining "cough" inquisition "cough".
I would say that the biggest mechanical issue I’ve run into so far is the dynamic environment system. One of the big features in the game is that the time can transition from day to night (and vice versa) and the weather than change. It looks fantastic and the devs have every right to be proud of it. However, I think they’re a little too proud of it. I know weather can, at times, be unpredictable, but I somewhat doubt that 20% of all races start with a clear, sunny day and end in torrential downpours.
If you eventually get GT7, it also does this. Shorter races are mostly unaffected, but some races start rainy and end dry or vice versa. The final cup has a few VERY VERY DARK races, and on Nurburgring goes from dark to light. Makes racing harder, but also looks really really nice. Not sure to which extreme, but it totally has time transitions, weather, and wind.
Music stuff
I really wish I could change the music in GT7...it isn't horrible, but you have no say over what plays in the menus. AND FRANKLY I DONT WANT MY CAR RACING GAME TO SOUND LIKE A WEDDING, classic stuff is great, but wrong context. Hopefully ps5 version lets me play some chill beats or something, but ps5 is a hoax doesn't exist, what was I talking about?
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Wheel Stand 2.0 + Fanatec Gran Turismo DD Pro.
The Great-stand is rock solid, ROCK SOLID, very well constructed
-having never experienced a FF wheel, this 5nm wheel has more force than my SUV...literally. I mean it makes sense for a car going 100mph to have, but one is my actual SUV, the other is a videogame. It's an experience.
The Good-the pedals are better than expected, they kinda look cheap, and foam on the break...PRETTY GOOD. Not outstanding, but well built and nice to use.
-the paddle shifters on the wheel feel VERY nice
-rubber texturing on the wheel also feels very nice
The Bad-wheel stand is ROCK SOLID...AND HEAVY AS A ROCK. Very stable, but comes at a cost. However would I trade weight for stability? On a cheaper wheel, sure, but on this thing with the power it cranks out, no.
-wheel comes with no screws. all the wheel came with was a few metal brackets you can use to bolt to a stand, but no bolts. wheelstand 2.0 had me covered with the correct bolts/washers/nuts I needed, but ymmv depending on your wheelstand of choice.
-I know for what this is, the price is considered a bargain (at least in the sim racer community) but ohh boy, entry level DD aint cheap no matter how you slice it
-the buttons on the gran turismo wheel feel very cheap. offset by them mostly being only used to menu, and to toggle TCS mid race, but it does make the wheel as a whole feel like a cheap third party controller, despite the nice rubber/paddles.
-wheel is a tad small. Not the end of the world, and you can buy bigger wheels for the stand, but as far as what I'm using on playstation, wish it was a bit bigger.
The Ugly-my gameplay with this thing. I expected to be slightly better than pad off the bat, what I got was I am SIGNIFICANTLY worse on wheel. I might need to dial in a few settings, but it's VERY hard for me to clean lap even an easy course like monza with this thing. I have no legacy skills with wheels/racing games and doing a little reading, there can be a large adjustment phase. That said, I find turning with 0 TCS to feel a lot more forgiving on wheel than on pad with moderate TCS. While in the now, I'm so bad I can't even race circuits for money...the good is that it will eventually get better than pad.
ConclusionThis is a very expensive toy, but considering it can be used outside of just one game, I think it's worth it. Might not get my moneys worth out of it in a year, but over the years as games come and go I should have enough mileage on the thing to have it be overall worthwhile. In ACC just feeling the grass, through the wheel, it's a level of realism I don't encounter in games. I just need to run easier tracks for the next while until I can get a hang of this thing. Large learning curve.
Do I recommend it? If you aren't going to miss $1000 for a game controller, sure. However if given the opportunity, I would try before you buy. I like it, but I am a crazy person and I really have no other wheels to compare it to, so take all of my opinions with a grain of salt. Racing game novice such as myself should have went with a Logitech, but my mind was GO BIG OR GO HOME, so yknow. Definitely something I want to have my friends try, my girlfriend tried this thing and was laughing and smiling, so definitely a cool thing to show to people who are over.
*edit*
Spent so long typing I forgot GT7 got patched.
ALWAYS ONLINE...ain't going anywhere. They've said nothing, but GTSport far as I read did the same thing, so fact of life. I myself don't like it, but I played diablo 3 world of warcraft, persona 5 with a dlc (GOD FORBID I HAVE A DLC MAKING IT SO I CAN'T PLAY OFFLINE SONY!), sucks but that's just how a lot of games are. Not defending it, but if my choice is not playing a game, and playing the game, I'm going to play it.
But they added a bunch of stuff. Biggest thing to me is the circuit experience. Basically most tracks in the game have a mode where you can play through each sector with a specific car, and you can go for bronze silver gold like the license tests. Then you have a one lap challenge, and this is for almost every track. Some tracks like the small oval just have the one lap, since it's so small. The BIG oval special course X or whatever doesn't have any due to it being like a 16 mile long oval which is mostly driving straight, good for testing top speed. But they added monetary awards for getting all bronze, and another for all gold. AND it's retroactive...so getting all gold on everything? Is about 47 million credits...in total. You can't repeat the awards, but if you wanted to go into a track and go for all gold, you can get typically around 800k-1.2 million on average. Now I am too horrible at the game to do gold...but this is a great change. I did all bronze on Spa pre patch, all I had to to was go to circuit experience for the track then exit, and I was awarded my all bronze money. Honestly imo, if circuit experience was the only content in the game, it would be $60 worth of content, in my opinion. It's a great mode to play when learning a track, because it makes you do each sector, then you do a full lap made easier with the practice you got from doing the sectors.
They also added a few more races, tweaked money on other stuff. Some physics changes, so actual gameplay stuff.
It's a good start, and in a place where I'd be happy to recommend the game...again...
Here's hoping they continue, because I know there's more work to be done to the game. But it seems pretty good right now.