Sadly, I'm not riding the GTS hype train. I'm not impressed with what I've seen so far. Here goes my two cents:
[+/-] Graphics
It's hard to tell by watching youtube videos and photomode pictures, but the graphics do look better. But not THAT much better. It still have problems. The same annoying problem we had with GT5 and GT6 is still there: in the cockpit view the instruments panel still get pitch black when there are shadows. It is ridiculous, PD should know what a default ambient light is! Imagine you want to drive in cockpit view without the game's panels. It's a pain. It's unrealistic. I also don't like the information on top of the cars (name, position and speed). They look arcade-ish and unrealistic but since they can be turned off, no complains here. Still, PD could use the time to do more useful features (will expand this below)
[-] Gameplay / Driving
I can't tell how the driving feels if I hadn't experienced it. But I can say this: GET RID OF THE STUPID ASM AND ACTIVE STEERING AIDS! They are unrealistic and especially ASM gives an incredibly advantage to those who use it. The ESP and traction control are more than enough! At least I hope we get a good solo campaign (as opposed to GT5 and GT6) and nice driving license and challenges to get gold. The FIA championships must be better explained, since I don't get how they will work yet. So far they just sound like the quick matches, but we'll have to wait a see. One thing is for sure, I'd rather have an improved online experience. Rooms should have better settings control, like disallowing downtune, shuffle races or same car races (for any car, as opposed to a short list that GT6 had). So far, there is nothing in this department that looks any better.
[+/-] Tracks and Cars
Well, I do know that GTS is not a GT7 and is more like a prologue. And as a prologue, it has a lot of tracks and cars. But it is a significant reduction when compared to GT6. We have half of the tracks. And whats worse, they keep fantasy tracks, so many real circuits will be missing
We have 10% of the cars. Okay, GT6 had 1200, remove similar/clone cars and fantasy cars and we are down to maybe 700 or so, then the 10% becomes more like 25%. However, PD still insisted in bringing over stupid fantasy and VGT cars, it's very disappointing, especially when they lost time doing them from scratch while they could be doing the cars we all really love. The exclusion of standard cars is acceptable as they would look out of place and bad. Having 100~200 full premium cars in GTS would not be bad at all, if they at least weren't fantasy cars. At the very least the garage limit will go away (I hope). There was nothing more frustrating than having bought all cars and still having to abandon an online room to go get the car from the stockyard (or buy a new one, since it was faster)...
[-] Damage
Still no damage? And yet, PD loses time with less useful features such as... (see below)
[+/-] Features
We have Livery Editor. We have many locations for Photo Mode. These features are always welcomed. But, maybe PD could have used the time and resources a little better. A damage system, more real-life tracks (as opposed to fantasy) and more real cars (instead of VGTs) would be much more appreciated. And don't get me wrong, I like to take photos and the livery can be fun. But the features are secondary. Everyone has been asking for and are happy about the Livery Editor, but I expect that most people will use it once or twice and never again. And those who will use it, many of them will be to put stupid designs and exploit it to do buggy/idiotic things. But oh well... The VR feature might be a good one, but we will have to wait and see.
[+/-] Costs
Many of us will have to spend a lot of money to play GTS. Besides the game (that I expect will not cost like a prologue, but a full game), some of us will have to get a PS4, get a new wheel, and maybe the VR glasses. Hurts the wallet a bit. At least PD dropped the idea of paid DLCs (judging from GT6), and that is something that should be highly praised. Let's hope they keep it that way.
We had karts, formula cars like Lotus and formula gt in previous GT, and now PS4 GTS won't have open wheel ??
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