Everybody is talking about how the game looks, nobody is talking about how the game is to play. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Well, here's my encapsulation of my experience. And bear in mind that I prefer gameplay over graphics. I still have fun and replay games with 90's and 2000's era graphics because quite often they offer superior gameplay to AAA games released in the past 10 years. And I absolutely do not like games that prioritize graphics over gameplay. So, with that said...
I'm no longer into driving games. So, I am not in the least bit interested in playing either Forza Motorsport or Gran Turismo (even though I absolutely loved GT on the PS1).
I'm still playing Forza Horizon. I'm still obviously in the tutorial "segment" of the game as I still haven't entirely unlocked the map and it's god damned fun. It reminds me of some Japanese developed games which have an extensive hours long beginning that basically serves as a tutorial for the game.
Maybe it's taking me so long to unlock the map because I just enjoy driving around and I'm not racing (pun intended) from one event to another in order to unlock the map as quickly as possible.
And ... I don't mind that everything isn't immediately unlocked because it's fun. And the driving is surprising (for me) good with a controller. That said, I'm seriously considering getting a wheel for this game since I dislike playing driving games in chase cam (controller feels significantly better in chase cam than it does in cockpit view). But I'm still uncertain if I want to drop 200+ USD on a decent steering wheel for basically just one game.
It doesn't reinvigorate my desire to play racing games, but it is a damn fun "game" that makes it fun to drive vehicles and participate in races.
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Back to graphics for a moment. It just keeps getting better and better as I play. The game not only looks good but everything is so cohesive. And the audio is superb as well.
My only gripe about the game so far is LOD management. I don't consider this pop-in as nothing is popping in for me. However, when trees, for example, transition from one LOD level to another, it's very obvious. Now keep in mind that I'm playing on a GTX 1070, so the LOD transition might not be as aggresively close to the player with better hardware. If there is pop-in with FH5, I haven't noticed it yet. I do wonder if people are confusing LOD transitions with pop-in?
I'm not sure how you fix LOD transitions with the trees other than pushing the the LOD transition far enough away that it isn't that noticeable. However that would require either significantly better graphics hardware (especially in my case) or a reduction in overall world detail. For example less trees, but then that would absolutely destroy the ambiance and look of many areas.
That said, it is still, IMO, hands down the best looking game released on any platform up to this point in time. And it's fun enough that I'll keep playing it.
Regards,
SB