This squashed any remaining concerns I had about the offline experience.
Campaign mode is my proving grounds, Arcade mode is my racing/progression/grinding/training environment, and Sport mode is where I go for intense competition and race series.
And every car in my garage is going to give me returns on the purchase 👍
I am actually a bit miffed that there won't (seemingly) be any structured offline racing in the career mode. I may have gotten my start in the franchise post-PS2 era, but one of the things I loved about GT's career modes (more so for me in GT5 than 6) was that I was forced to try car/track/regulation combos that I never would've thought to try (and in some cases wasn't
able to try due to limitations in arcade mode) - in fact, this was actually how I was introduced to the Nurburgring. I still remember unlocking the Lupo Cup race, buying the car, and then getting confused that the event was only one lap. I had never heard of the place before and at first I thought it was a point-to-point track, as around four or five minutes into the race more and more road was layed out ahead. I hadn't raced on such a thin or bumpy road in a realistic game before, and it was exhilarating. That race is still one of my best solo moments I've had in any racing game, and I had several more like it in GT5. The scenarios presented in career mode gave me lots of ideas for races I could set up in arcade, and I probably wouldn't have bothered trying if the career mode had been more bland and repetitive. Even if I sorta know my tastes by now, I still like the challenge of being forced on a track I don't like with an unfamiliar car, or car type (or in the case of GTS, class), and I'm really going to miss having that in this game.
However, the beta got me sold on the online component. I will be able to have fun there, and I do welcome credit+XP rewards for Arcade Mode, here's hoping it has very little constrictions for race set up.
I'm also worried about the balancing of credits with the smaller car list, but I won't go into that here since I already made a long post about it in another thread.