First impressions from playing 2 hours until 3/4-rd into seeker :
pros :
* graphics can be stunning, most impressive track so far was Long Beach with the Ken Block car event, absolutely amazing.
* sound overall has improved quite a bit but after you swap into a couple of cars the improvements also sound a bit generic within the same car classes.
* interactive loading screens (initially).
* the new dashboard camera is nice.
* better balanced economy. credits are much more difficult to come by and that is good.
* massive amount of cars.
* specialty dealer is fun - 3 cars were available for 12 days and cannot be bought via the normal way, after 12 days they will disappear and new ones will come (this will probably return at some point, appear in loot crates, Forzathon and what not)
* the mods system has improved with mods now all being consumables instead of 2 out of 3 mods being permanent.
* runs absolutely great on a standard XBox One. Apart from slower car 3D model loading times on the race setup / car selection compared to the old 2D models, this game runs solid during the races.
cons :
* same old, same thing feeling, just in a shiny new jacket.
* after playing PCARS 2 for an entire week, I absolutely dislike the handling and physics, cars don't feel "heavy" and loose grip so easy. This game absolutely feels like its leaning quite heavy towards arcade games.
* after you have set up everything, you'll be waiting during the interactive loading screens anyway since you are not going to change assist settings etc every race.
* on wet tracks cars don't leave marks, a wet track can be a perfect mirror and it stays that way when a car races over it, not really immersive.
* i don't like the cheesy menu music.
* AI even with aggression limited can be very aggressive, this is not motorsport racing, this is demolition derby in every single corner.
* Dubai feels a bit dull but hey, it's a new track.
* annoying narrator voice.
* some features unavailable at launch (auction house, Forzathon, market place)
* dynamic weather looks gorgeous but in the end its just a gimmick. Dry, wet, rain all matters little on these automatic tyres, it's just a bit more grip on dry and a bit less on wet. Same style as FH3.
My overall feeling is that the franchise is more and more aiming at a young public and at the same time becomes more distant with real motorsport. Loot crates are the new thing in so many games and the Forza franchise happily follows. There are plenty of free cars rewarded at various points in the game (special events, leveling up, opening crates). The new cars to the franchise are all the "cool cars for the kids" with Hoonigan cars and Fast and Furious cars while new 2016/2017 racing cars are completely absent with 1 exception. The driver gear and that ragdoll making silly over-the-top animations standing idle next to the car, it's rather useless and pointless but I guess those kids will love it as well. This game feels like it's all about the way the content is wrapped up, rather than the content itself if you know what I mean. But I'm sure it will work, this is the way to please the masses anno 2017 I guess.
I'm enjoying it for now though, opening loot crates, leveling up, getting credits to buy new cars, doing the championship and unlocking events there. But once I've played through it all once the replay value will be minimal.