While the World Map mode is bizarrely weird in a good way since it feels so different to anything else and is distinctly Japanese (lots of non-voiced text and an odd Cafe system with "menus" you select for race events), the actual racing itself is absolutely stunning.
Played about 5 hours of the game on PS5 last night and while I'm not keen on races having rolling starts (I guess it means events start quicker), I think the handling of the cars is brilliant and the visuals are stunning, almost photo-realistic which helps immerse me on the game in the cockpit view in a way that few other racing games have. The lighting is amazing and enhanced by the best HDR implementation in a game to date. The audio, the car noises and even the music are just the icing on the cake as are the impressively fast loading times which make what would otherwise would have been a clunky menu system a joy to navigate as you are never waiting more than 2-4 seconds for anything to load, even the tracks.
And did I mention the replays? I have the RT mode enabled and I am finding myself wanting to view the replays post race because they look so damn good. Polyphony Digital know how to make interesting replays unlike Turn 10 who continue to get their replay cameras wrong every game to the point where they might as well just remove replays because they're so dull to watch. In my opinion, ahem.
One thing I don't like in GT7 though is the chase camera view which looks odd compared with other racing games as it is too static and makes the game feel less enjoyable to play from that angle. You can tweak the camera but nothing I did resolved the stiffness of the camera, especially when cornering. This is something I feel the developers have not improved on since GT Sport and the previous games. I played an hour of GRID (2019) on my PS5 after GT7 and its chase camera is just leagues better in my view. Still, the cockpit view is nigh on perfect and by far the best and most immersive way to play GT7 anyway.
Another minor gripe is the A.I. It is mostly fine but I'd swear there's some rubberbanding going on as the game starts off very easy - on intermediate difficulty I was coming first in every race - but then I noticed that as my Car Collector Level increased that I was struggling to reach third place then fourth even though my car's PP level was way higher than the recommended one for the event. The car was clearly too slow for the events and I had no chance of catching up with the rest of the pack leading despite racing perfectly with no crashes or collisions. Maybe it is just me but I feel that is a bit unfair and means that I have to keep redoing races with different vehicles or upgrading them, adding to a progressively more grindy feel to the game (which, no doubt, accounts for why the obnoxious micro-transactions are there?). It doesn't help that there is no qualifying laps or grid starts either, at least so far, which seems strange for a game that is subtitled "the real driving simulator". I always thought the rolling starts were added to the PS3 games because the console wasn't powerful enough to handle all the cars on the starting grid at the same time but that surely isn't an issue for the mighty PS5?
Overall, this is a great game despite my negative comments. It isn't as rewarding or as accessible as, say, GRID or Forza Motorsport 7 but it excels in the on-the-track racing (for the most part) and offers a visually splendid game that puts everything else to shame.
