Recent reviews by xch1n

Forza Motorsport has been my favorite racing franchise since I got a video game console. Unfortunately, Forza Motorsport 2023 is a step backward in almost every respect. While I'm grateful that I haven't had any technical issues in getting the game to run, the progression design gets in the way of having fun with the game.

Locking car upgrades behind grinding out races, especially any tunable components like transmission settings or tire compounds only serves to pad out the experience. "Built, not bought" is a lovely tagline, but gets in the way of what a racing game should be about - identifying what it takes to go faster, and going after it. Making me do laps or not switch cars feels like an attempt to milk playtime out of a career format that is rather boring and unsatisfying.

Then there's the "live service" progression. Despite having a VIP membership that doubles credits earned, the time-limited Tours don't pay out enough to afford even the lowest of the low car in the next series in the tour. So I'm forced to grind not only for car levels, but also for enough credits to get a car that allows me to start grinding in the next series of races. It should really tell you something that much of the discussion surrounding the game is how to automate or circumvent this grind. Taking tours away, including the reward car, because I don't have the patience to force myself to play things I don't want to is a real choice.

My hope is that much like FM7, in a year or so this game will be something better than it is now.

Unlike many social sabotage games, betraying friends is fun AND funny. An inside joke generator, best played with friends.