Playing The Forza Motorsport Reboot Made Me Go Back To The Best Game In The Series

Forza games, or any racing game in that aspect, are so enjoyable because you hop into any car, customize and tune it the way you want, and you would have the freedom to explore as much as you want with nothing holding you back. But if you introduce a leveling system into that, there’s a sense of grind, and you must spend preposterous amounts of time leveling up one car.

Aside from the adventure genre, I’d say that racing games are the best place to have that sense of tranquillity. You don’t need to grind excessively to get better, but you still need to work hard to get different cars, win races and achieve that moment of accomplishment. Not to mention, the leveling system is even worse for tuning enthusiasts such as myself.

Disappointing Changes: A Forza Fan’s Frustration
byu/Mystic1320 inforza

Another thing worth mentioning is that it becomes nearly impossible for an average gamer to experience every car in the title at its best. If a game has hundreds of different cars, and you can only level one at a time, how can you expect them to achieve perfectionism? It would require players to spend more time grinding in a title like Forza Motorsport than in most RPGs.

As can be seen from the above Reddit post, many players are frustrated with this feature and can even see themselves dropping the title if the feature persists, which it most likely will. After playing many RPG games and getting that same grind feeling in Forza Motorsport, I immediately had to switch to Forza Motorsport 4, as it is perhaps the best title in the Forza Motorsport series and one of the best overall.

Even in RPG games, there is almost always a back door if you change your mind. I am talking about the basic principle of respeccing, which you can find in many titles, like Elden Ring, Diablo 4, Lords of the Fallen, The Witcher 3, etc. So, even if you mess up and feel like you have wasted your resources in leveling up something you didn’t want, you can eventually redirect those levels elsewhere with little to no drawbacks.

However, if you were to level up a car in Forza Motorsport, spending many hours to reach that max mark, only to realize that there’s a different car you like more, and maybe that’s the one you will stick with. In that case, you can’t transfer those levels. Instead, you have to redo the grind until you eventually find another car you like, which will be very common in a game with 500 vehicles, and do it all over.

The game may have been better if there was a way to transfer that progress into another car. It wouldn’t waste the grind, and you will be more open to trying various things, but that’s not the case here. Even for people who love RPGs and would be interested to see some of these elements in a game like Forza Motorsport, I am pretty sure they would look elsewhere after understanding this feature.

It appears to be a clear-cut case of misleading marketing, enraging many fans who were looking forward to the entry. Without these changes, the game doesn’t come close to being the next-level racing game that it was supposed to be. And even though Turn 10 Studios claims to be listening to player feedback, I am pretty sure it would take a long time before the game reaches the same level it was showcased at.

On the other hand, there have been several cases of Microsoft allegedly deleting reviews for Forza Motorsport to make it appear less awful. Even if that is the case, the rating still appears to be low, showing what other fans like myself think about the game. It has created further distrust between the Forza community and Microsoft, the former believing this could spell the end for one of their most beloved franchises.

Forza Motorsport 4 had a great car variety, from regular common models to supercars you may not have even known existed. In that massive catalog, the best thing was the addition of regular cars because you could make it feel more like a driving simulator game rather than racing. Not to mention, seeing your family’s in-real-life car in your favorite game was its own experience.

It has excellent tracks, Positano, Fujimi Kaido, Tsukuba and much more. And speaking of tracks, the soundtrack makes the game feel so much better. Granted, they weren’t my go-to tracks to listen to when in a race, but outside of that, the menu soundtrack was exceptional. Listening to Lance Hayes’ soundtrack was one of the best parts of this game.

Another thing that I did not appreciate as much as I do now is Top Gear in Forza Motorsport 4.
If you didn’t know, content from the show has been provided to the franchise since Forza Motorsport 3 after a long-term deal was signed in collaboration. Hearing Jeremy Clarkson in the game’s intro and Autovista makes it feel better despite it not affecting the gameplay in any way.

The ability to sell cars quickly without dealing with the auction house or throwing them away was also excellent. Although nostalgia also plays a factor, I believe many Forza Motorsport fans would agree that the series peaked at the fourth iteration, and no game has outclassed the title since then. It had a mix of many small and big features that made the game feel so good. 

The AI hasn’t improved that much in all these years, and the overall upgrades are barely noticeable if you have played earlier games a lot. Another thing worth pointing out is the game’s performance on Xbox Series S. Although it doesn’t look that bad, it somehow looks a bit worse than Forza Horizon 5 on Series S. Considering how this is supposed to be the next best Forza game, I expected a lot more from the title.

The game might get better after frequent updates, which it likely will since this is a massive project. Even then, it still doesn’t compel me to give the game another chance unless these updates drastically change the video game. As much as I love the series, I find it better to stick with Forza Motorsport 4 or Forza Horizon 5, as these are some of the best Forza titles.