Sorry this is really long and I know that T10 nor MS will ever see this but need to get it off my chest.
So I have been playing Forza pretty religiously since Motorsport 3 although my obsession really took off with Motorsport 4. Heck I even pre-ordered a Xbox One day one edition just so I could play Motorsport 5. Each game has had its share of issues right out of the box which honestly isn’t anything unexpected for games in this day and age of console game patches. But this is the first Forza game that feels truly broken not because of the bugs or missing features in my opinion but the way they designed the game to lock you out of content and try and force you to purchase their “loot” crates.
First off I put about 10 hours of racing into the game this weekend and about 2-3 hours painting looking through car lists and other random activities. For me the actual driving experience is phenomenal. I haven’t run into to many bugs that I’ve noticed so far other than party chat cutting out when a friend and me join the multiplayer lobby and we have to restart our party group to get chat back. But while that’s annoying we make it work. The cars feel fast and have a good weight to them. Each car I’ve raced has really felt different and has been a fun challenge getting used to the way they take corners and accelerate down straightaways. Even cars I thought I had mastered in previous MS games feel new and exciting! There have been a couple times that have caused me to actually stand up out of my seat because of the adrenalin rush after nailing a turn. That type of excitement while driving is flat out awesome and makes for some great times in MS7. That said there are a lot of issues with the Drivatars but its something that has always been and always will be an issue as long as that AI system is in place. At this point I just accept its going to be bumper cars for the first last lap when you can get caught up to the top three cars. The graphical down grades don’t really bother me all that much to be honest the game still looks fantastic and I hardly notice that some of the track textures may not be up to par not a huge deal to me at all. Same with the sound. I get some of the cars may not be true to how they really sound but I think this game sounds amazing on my surround sound!
Now to the reason why I’m frustrated with this game…
You don’t have to look far in this forum to see all the frustration with the “VIP” system. Turn10 has taken something that has been a staple of Forza games something that has pretty much always been the same and completely ruined it by making it something limited. Not only that but I feel they flat out mislead the players who were purchasing it by wording it to sound like this was the VIP of old only to change the wording after they have our money and are complaining about it. That’s just not something you do to your loyal players and to be honest the people who are dropping $100 dollar on the ultimate edition are more than likely your loyal players. But whatever if T10 and MS want to swindle me out of money for the VIP then that’s on me for maybe not doing enough research. The biggest issue I have with the VIP consumable idea is that its all leading towards Microtrasation Crates and before you yell at me that there are not Microtrasations… they are coming. Its the only reason for T10 to set the game up this way. Everything is centered around the crates. Its the reason the VIP is consumable they want to force you to have to use Boost cards to get your credit % output higher. It’s the reason they put in the Collector Level system so you have to buy cars you don’t want to get to the good ones you do so you have to get more money from using boost cards which you have to buy from crates. If they were not wanting you to buy these crates then they would give you one every driver level. But instead they try and make progression even slower when leveling up by making you make a choice of what reward you want. I’m honestly fine with “Loot” type systems like this as long as its something that is 100% cosmetic and doesn’t affect actual gameplay. I feel that Overwatch is a perfect example of this the loot boxes don’t matter an ounce other than what your character looks like or what animation is played at the end of a match. It doesn’t hide characters, it doesn’t hide gameplay boots heck they even give you one every time you level if I remember correctly. It doesn’t feel dirty or cheap and honestly is kinda fun to open them. Forza’s system has none of that. Its sole purpose is to slow you’re progression until you give in and purchase new loot crates. If they really wanted it to be just a optional system they could of just put the worthless driver gear in them. Heck I’d even be ok with Boost cards in them if the game economy wasn’t built so that you have to use Boost Cards every race to earn anything.
Overall I’m extremely frustrated to see how this game has turned out. It’s freemuium at its worst because it cost $60-$100 depending on what version you pick up. I will give T10 a chance to fix this and I anticipate how they respond to what looks like a lot of player frustration leading to the point of refunds (if those players who are claiming they got one actually did). I purchased the physical edition for the steel book so that is out of the question for me. But I can say that if this is how the game stays and the path Turn10 wants to go down this will more than likely be my last race.