Thank you to PlayStation for providing early review code. As someone who has fond but distant memories of Gran Turismo's glory days (and not much experience with it recently), I liked this one a whole lot. Also, I should make clear that I have zero actual ill will towards the actual people in those headshot photos, haha. Also, thank you all so much for watching, especially those who generously pledged to the Patreon. As outlined in my update video a month or so back (and thanks to your continued support on Patreon), I'll be focusing mainly on a bigger, weirder project in the vein of the cheese drum kit video I posted back in December-I've already started researching/writing and I'm very excited about it! If that sounds cool to you, if you enjoy the videos and would like to directly help make their production more sustainable, consider heading to patreon.com/writingongames and pledging only what you're comfortable with. Doing so gets you access to things like early, completely ad-free video uploads as well as new patron-exclusive Q&As and commentaries on older videos! I simply would not be able to do all of this without your support. Thank you so much!

I feel that Gran Turismo wants me to wear a tuxedo while playing. A snobbish waiter should come out from the kitchen and present you with a: "Your car video game sir."

Still boggles my mind that we haven't seen a numbered GT release since the PS3

People complaining about the graphics.... This game is trying to mimic real life. Real life looks this "flat".The real courses look exactly like this. Forza looks like a freakin cartoon.

As a gearhead & long time Gran Turismo man, you've pretty much captured what makes GT great & at the same time you made this video with the Non-Car/Non-Racing game audience in mind. You did well man. Keep it up

Hearing you describe your evolution of driving and learning to drive properly and how the game assisted you in doing so is literally GT series in a nutshell. You got it, you absolutely got it and you worded all of that so perfectly. Loved this video, can't wait to get my hands on this.

Partially a GT7 review, partially a tale of a new player falling in love with actual racing and what it makes it so enticing. Awesome video

I've watched plenty of GT7 reviews today but this one is the most entertaining while being informative.

I'm so glad someone finally put to words what I have always felt about Gran Turismo. There are a handful of racing games I've really loved, but the only racing franchise that has always felt like it was "made" for me has been Gran Turismo, even though I'm not really a gearhead or racing enthusiast, the games just speak to me. I can spend hours just shaving off fractions of seconds on time trial laps, and I've always loved the quirkiness of the presentation (I've always disliked the "hip" and "modern" presentation that the arcade-ier games like NFS or Forza have, especially when they go all-out on the "social media/bro-culture" crap.) I even still return to my copies of GT1, 2, 3, and 4, because I get nostalgic for their menus, HUD, and soundtrack. I actually also found GT6 to arguably be the best GT overall, particularly if you import the GT1 and 2 soundtracks. Unfortunately, it's not a game that can be easily returned to, and it even practically erased GT5 from existence. So, I'm a bit concerned that GT7's "live-service" will effectively kill the game once GT8 comes out (probably on PS6, IMO,) but I'm still hoping it'll come to PC so I can get back in the habit. Until then, emulating GT4 on PC is great, and with custom firmware I've got GT2 running on my PSP. I really do love this franchise!

Gran Turismo and Ridge Racer were always my favorite racing series since I was a kid. Both stacked with so much charm, fun to play made easy to get into, awesome graphics and soundtracks, slick rides to unlock as well. I’m picking up my preordered GT 7 on Friday. Still hope for Namco to surprise us with a Ridge Racer comeback someday.

On the topic of driving cars is kind of "musical", I always thought of cars this way. These machines are all analog drive at the end of the day, like music. There is no real "100%" for cars, it's just 100% change, like in music. No matter how hard you hit the note, there is a rise time, just like there is a rise time for speeding up and slowing down. A good song has multiple types of speed up and slow downs, just like a good track does. If someone reads this and still doesnt understand, look up a song's waveform and zoom in as far as you can and you should start to see it.

GT7 in VR with a wheel has been the single most incredible gaming experience ive ever had

I'm so glad you, specifically, covered this! I don't think other reviews have gotten across it's eccentricities nearly as well as you did. With Forza Horizon, people have sort of flocked to those games as the ultimate car lovers expierence. As much as I love games like FH5, they lack this precise feeling of challenge and progression, like I've been given too many rewards for barely doing anything. So thanks for covering this!

I really wanted to pick this up as it looks so dense and rich, but I’ve just had to lay down 60 smackers for a new dual sense due to stick drift. Not exactly the kind of drifting I had in mind, but that’s life I guess.

Yay 1 & 2's career mode is so good, I have such fond memories coming home everyday just to grind my second-hand Skyline to the point I could buy some stupid sports car I found awesome in my adolescence. (Funny because the 90's Skyline is like my favorite car now in adulthood), loved this

This is the kind of review that I wish I saw more of. It's an analysis of the game as a form of art and not somebody running through a standardized checklist of features and qualities. This review captures exactly what I have always loved about Gran Turismo and the things that I always thought set it apart. I'm always hearing "Gran Turismo doesn't have ___ feature! It's behind!" But that mentality is what makes the competition look so stale, bland, and "samey" in comparison.

Not to take away from your other recent work, but this, in my opinion, is one of your Best Videos, the writing and pacing just work so well together and it was accessible enough for someone like me who is not too well versed with racing games. Tbh it also helps that I love it whenever you talk about Racing Games, I still think about your Trackmania video and how much I enjoyed it. I think it's the enthusiasm and joy with which you talk about these games that makes me enjoy these videos even more so than usual. So thank you and keep up the good work. 👍

To say it's not the absolute best looking or technically the best is so odd because that's a big part of what Gran Turismo is about. How good it looks.

Wow, amazing video! I was surprised to see you reviewing GT7, but I love your videos and channel! Keep up the great work! 😀😀

Great review! There's nothing like GT, and I'm so glad the series is back to form with this one. Minor point at 2:50: the music rally thing, you can quit out of that. I got the game early (thank you, Amazon), and I was able to go straight to the menu after exiting out. Just a heads up for anyone else who doesn't want to sit through that.

you are a fantastic critic. one of the most entertaining and articulate videogame reviews I’ve seen in a long, long time.

Thanks for the review, I enjoyed listening to it. What I find interesting is that the positive gameplay highlights you talk about, about how the cars handle like actual cars, are things I would consider bare minimum for a game calling itself a driving simulator.

Great review man!! I'm so excited to play this tomorrow

Gotta appreciate true sincerity in a video game

I don't know who is making Gran Turismo but I deeply enjoy that they are EXTREMELY SURE they know what they want the game to be and who they want to play it and how, and they will not be responding to suggestions on the matter. It's like a game version of Eugene O'Neill yelling “I intended it to be repeated eighteen times!” and that's great.

Amazing video in all honesty, but the racing in these clips hurt my soul at times No joke though this video is really well written and delivered, props to you man. Whenever you look at the subscriber-count and expected to see alot more you know you've found a gem.

15:20 Those are the faces of the best e-sport players of GT Sport. I must say that this is great gesture from the dev team.

Great review! I'm kind of curious now, having heard your enthusiasm for learning the minutiae of driving in GT7, do you have a real world drivers license? I'm not much of a racing game guy, but I really like the act of driving itself, and resonated with a lot of what you said about planning your moves ahead. Of course, I don't race, so the stakes are always low, but a smooth drive is its own reward in a way. Anyway, thanks for the video!

Probably some of you know this, but some of the faces with the red shirt are actual competitors of the irl Gran Turismo World Championship, which is the official eSport competition of the FIA. That "Igor" guy in the license test is Igor Fraga, one of the world champions of that competition and real life race driver in stuff like Formula 2 or the Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand.

So, the issues I generally have with racing games like this that are more sim than arcade are short races, and a lack of qualifying paired with starting me in the middle of the pack. Does this game fix either of those issues?

BTW, the people in the orange shirts in the portraits are actually top players in GT Sport's World Championships, they are real people that you may even find yourself playing with online lol

10:18 Fun piano fact! The sustain and damper pedals, are, in fact, the same exact pedal! (I could go more in depth, but I don't know if anyone reading this would find it all too interesting)

Great review 😎 Maybe I’ll see you on the track 🏁🏁

You keep proving why you’re the best games reviewer on youtube, or really any place for that matter

Fascinating and good look at gran turismo. My brother and I mostly played project gotham, flatout and i stuck with arcade racers like f-zero it's good to see a racing game retain its dna quirks in an era with slimmer choice where developters are mostly sticking to conventions. That being said, i'd go ab-so-lutely insane with a framerwork around my races like this and I don't know how you do it. I could enjoy Deadly Premonition as a sort of "bad deconstruction" of the survivorhorror genre indulging in wonderful distractions with its character. But for racing i'm afraid my controller would end up in my monitor very very soon.

Did you have a chance to try the game with a wheel controller? Making smooth adjustments for steering with a joystick is nigh impossible as can be seen from your footage. Anyway, liked your take on Gran Turismo as a whole. The series has been my favorite jrpg with 4 as the one with the most fond memories. Hope 7 brings some of that sense of choose your own path -feeling back to the series. Starting with a cheap beater and upgrading it further and further until you have enough credits to upgrade into a better car and take part in new racing series has been something that I have really waited from a racing game.

I've never been a car guy, but your writing may convince me to pick up Gran Turismo whenever I decide to get a PS5

so glad this is on PS4! my old g27 wheel is going to be the centerpiece of my house for months. (thanks Drive Hub)

How it fills on pad?

WHY CANT I SEE THE SIDE OF MY CAR? That 3rd person camera, oy.

I’m no racing game dude but I’ve wanting a racing game for a while and this review definitely sold the game for me. I’m getting this!

What a review... delivered with the same finesse and eccentricity with words as the game with it's presentation Seems to me like the game was turned into words, i love it, absolutely fantastic.

Fantastic review. I can’t wait to buy it, but I’m gonna wait until getting through Elden Ring first.

I heavily disagree with you on the visuals department, for me Gran Turismo 7 is the most photorealistic game out right now

Wow, you really make the some of the best videos on youtube! I have no interest in this type of game, but (like some of the other commenters have noted) the way you talk about this game and how it all works really captures that special something the series seems to have and it's very interesting to hear about. Gives me a new and different perspective on why people like these games. Awesome review!

We’ve waited for 8 years for a proper gran turismo game, and finally it’s almost here, I can’t wait. Shame I don’t have I ps4 or ps5 to play it, but I want to buy one soon pretty much to only play this game.

What a beautiful and spot on review. Nice one.

I like how you were spamming the ok button on the sportsmanship screen without checking the do not show again box on the side, thus ensuring you would have to do so again.

Kinda lost me when you said the graphics aren’t amazing. It’s not flashy fast and furious like those other racing games because it’s targeting photo realism. If you look closely, the detail is insane, and the accuracy down to the specs on the tail light has never been seen by any other game. Oh and do watch the digital foundry analysis, it goes into greater detail.

I think the only one I've played is GT4. I remember being greatly amused by the option to have the computer drive for you and the sheer insanity of 24 hour races which basically force you to use that option. Still have fond memories of trying to unlock all the cars. :)

Info only: you show twisted metal gameplay at 0:37 and should show motor toon grand prix

Nailing a turn in Grand Turismo really scratches that itch.

Love your videos. Video on Elden RIng when?

The same way some people describe self improvement and fulfilment with Dark Souls is the way I discribe it with Gran Turismo, and with a beautiful, elegant and ridiculously detailed presentation. This is why I love Gran Turismo.

Have you seen Reviewtechusa's video on GT7?

Great review!

The only issue I have is with the damage. Yes manufactures just wont let devs implement damage anymore, which is a shame when you look at Race Driver: Grid and Burnout Paradise from 2008. It's really odd considering that companies crash test their cars for safety purposes. If anything, companies should let devs replicate the damage from crash tests to showcase how the safe their cars are.

I’ve never bought myself a racing game, but this review has convinced me that if I ever did it would be a Grand Turismo game

You should really check out F1, I would be interested to hear your impression of the race weekend/season format career mode compared to something like Gran Turismo or Forza

I see they still have the chase cam pinned to the back of the car unfortunately. This means the camera rotates wildly on any direction change.

this video is by far the best on gt7, you captured the essence of the game!

You are the only person I can think of who could convince me to watch an 18 minute long video on some random racing game I've vaguely heard of a few times in my life. There is basically _nothing_ in the world as boring to me as cars, so trust me when I say that that really means something.

Truly the Dark Souls of racing games

this is a great review!

All those talking heads are drivers that qualified and took part in the GT Sports esports series, really cool to see them in game. Great video as well.

Thanks for the review

Most video games want you to feel like Batman. Gran Turismo wants to make you feel like Bruce Wayne. Maybe thats a little weird but its a CARPG and most RPGs are a little weird.

Incredible video as always, but this game might be a skip for me personally. While driving sims just aren’t quite my cup of tea, I feel like I’ve got a much better understanding on why people like these games so much now. Definitely have some friends that would love to give this a shot.

This is the best review of this game so far...

Alright, Billy- im gonna put this toy car on a stick, and you're gonna get under the table and move the track, while i pretend to drive.

Gran Turismo basically said, "Driving is easy, racing is hard."

I think Polyphony left it's returning customers our to dry. In 7 years they only added 2 new tracks and they did not give full night racing. GT is the only game that caters to console players that like long endurance races with pitstops. All we really wanted was new tracks and the ability to run 24hr of Daytona style races, but we can't.... I love the handling and really hope they do add new tracks and the ability to go from noon over night to noon again..

3:48 - Finally, someone truly gets Gran Turismo

Hopefully GT7 can teach me to drive better on ACC , that sim is nuts if you are a Rookie like me 😪

Noooo you can’t just not upload for so long then shove 3 videos out back to back aha that’s too blessed

1992 was also the year that Gran Turismo 1 began development.

Forza is the fast psced fun racing game around. But when I just want to sit back snd relax and have a nice drive, I come to Gran Turismo, and even so it has some really challenging races.

I get the misconception about *why* everyone always calls games like Gran Turismo and Forza “sim” games but they’re really not, it’d be like calling the airplanes in GTAV a flight sim when MSFS2020 exists and is an actual *real* simulation. It’s the same thing with games like this, they might have graphical fidelity and a bit of tuning options but they’re not really simulators when you’ve got stuff like iRacing and Assetto Corsa still going strong.

how is the car sounds... the last couple GTs had the cars sounding like vacuums

They camera really makes gran turismo feel stiff, I wish they would let us change that

I really am out of touch, I still play GT4 on my PS2. I must admit GT7, unlike GT5 and GT6, is very alluring to me at the moment, even though the changes made to the original, vintage tracks are a big turnoff for me.

It’s disappointing how far off this series has fallen

A Yakuza video, fuck yeah.

Can't wait for the Elden ring video!

The Dark Souls of racing games.

Grand Turismo is still the most dignified racing series around eh? No other racing game takes itself so seriously

This guy gets it.

The chance camera view looks old and outdated. I'll be 1st person for my experience

GT7 is a mixed bag. It's got an elegant presentation but some of the racing feels either accessible or wildly uncontrollable.

Ummm I'm sorry, Lewis is the mastero now.

I hate to see this game in third person. The camera looks so fixed on the car it looks like someone moving around with a gopro on their heads. This meant to be played first person. You will also take corners much better because it simulates real life driving....

Needs more cars

Bro my eyes must be just fucking bad and my doctor is lying about my 20/20 vision, because I cannot see how this game doesn’t look as good as other games. Like I literally can’t see it 🧐🧐🧐👀👀👀👀👀I just can’t see Fidelity like that I guess

I am so dissapointed with the RWD Physics. I havent seen such frustrating behaviour of cars in any game before. Its so unreal how they lose the rear all the time. Its like driving on ice and snow or having the worst possible tyres at 0°C on a dirty Track. I am Drifting and Racing a Mustang since 2013 and if i compare it with GT7 its absolute nonsense. With slightest steering input the cars just lose their rears. With just maintaining throttle during fast curves where in reality i can accelerate or in ovals they lose it. This is not realistic but completely broken. Have they even testet this and who ever programmed it has this person ever driven a 400+hp RWD car on a Track? I hoped it would be more like back in GT5 but no they made it even worse than it was in GT Sport and GT6. Good examples are IB-1 and IB-3 license tests. I had to ragequit those earlier. In IB-3 i realized that cars no matter how little steering input and how fast the corner, With throttle they oversteer without they understeer. While in reality when driving a long corner if i slowly add throttle the car will accelerate and if i get to fast it will start sliding straight over the front tires but never lose the rear. It only loses it with harsh steering inputs or throttle input. Man i wasnt so frustrated for a long while. If they dont drastically change this i dont know.

I’m down for all of this *except* those talking heads.

It looks, frankly, …luxurious You mentioned “an almost spiritual reverence” and that’s perfect. How often do games engage with reverence at all

I’ve been rinsing GT7 all weekend, its been ups and downs, but overall I’m very disappointed. From the largely GT Sport imported roster of cars, poor music, the awful rally physics, the endless list of purchasable cars which don’t qualify for any of the world circuit races (yeah, what is that about?), and generally too clean/clinical feel to racing which removes any sense of excitement, theres too much to dislike here. The competition has moved on, GT still making games for 10 years ago.

I have never seen a racing game series with so much class as Gran Turismo, the entire aesthetic just makes you feel like you’re too poor to even deserve to be here with all these expensive cars

What turns me off from GT massively is how godawful that stationary third-person camera is. At least the first person view seems fine.

How come no one mentions the impossibility of selling the cars??? Isn't the garage ours? That's the feeling, we're filling someone's garage! I hate this detail! 😡😡😡😡😡