Category: Xbox One

It has hard to find something new to say about the Forza Motorsport franchise.  It is Microsoft’s premier racing game, and it always looks gorgeous.  Even when you think it can’t look any better, they always find a way to amp up the visuals.  With Forza Motorsport 7, Turn 10 had some help because the Xbox One X came out and let them go crazy with the graphical fidelity.  Though there are some new things for standard Xbox One users, namely dynamic weather and greater freedom in race selection.

As for what Forza 7 offers, it has more of everything.  More cars, more tracks, more outfits, more weather variation, and more crazy car customization.  Seriously what guys can do with random squares and circles is crazy.  I think every popular anime character has been accounted for.  It is hard to argue with the package Turn 10 has put together, if you think it is missing something, I think you are looking for a completely different game.

All of that is great, but there is one flaw, the progression system, or I should say systems.  There are three.  SP is what you earn during different ‘cups’ or sections of the game.  For every race you earn SP, and if you race enough you earn that section’s cup.  Then you are off to the next section (if you want).  What is nice is that you can pick which races to do, with a good variety of car choices.  Not as flexible as Forza Horizon 3‘s any car you want, but pretty close.

The only problem is that some races are stuck behind a ‘Collector’ level.  You up your Collector level with every car you get.  Different cars have different values, so you will want to get cars that help up your Collector level the fastest.  The problem is that you are picking cars based off point value instead of, “That car is awesome! I want that one!”, but cars are stuck behind the Collector level too, so you will be getting low level cars at first (and lot of them) just to get that level up.   Also since you can buy car packs as DLC with real money that are then ‘free’ in the game.  It adds a pay to win element.

The third system is XP.  Get enough XP and you level up, but that doesn’t mean much anymore.  All it really does is give you more money and then let you choose from three other rewards: more money, a free or discounted car, or a new Drivatar outfit.  Obviously with the Collector system outlined above, you should always pick the car, unless you have the Car Pass and are already juicing your Collector level.

Next is everyone’s favorite system ‘Prize Crates’.  There are different ‘Prize Crates’.  Some crates have cards in them called ‘mods’ that usually give you more money for racing on harder difficulties, like turning off traction control, or turning off the Forza racing line and just having the braking line.  Other, more expensive crates, have cars in them, but since you are saving your money for cars that help your Collector level, they seem like a bad investment.  The mods on the other hand pay you back quickly thanks to their money modifiers.  For now you can’t buy these crates with real money, but the fear is that you will be able to eventually, adding yet another pay to win mechanic.  Though after the Battlefront II fiasco, maybe not.

All of this and I haven’t even got to the racing!  How is it? It is Forza, it is awesome.  Not as arcade-y as Horizon, but not the super hard sim of Grand Turismo either.  It is right in the middle somewhere.  With seven games out now all I can say is that Forza 7 plays like a Forza Motorsport game.  One that now has dynamic weather to mess you up.  Which is great.

I like Forza Motorsport 7.  It continues the progression of the franchise.  It is not a huge leap forward, but it looks and plays great.  It is just a shame the Collector level just sits there in the way.  If they got rid of that, it would be the open game fans have been wanting.  Still, if you like racing games, and you want something to show off your Xbox One X, it is worth picking up.

I bought Stardew Valley on a whim.  Something cute to play between other games I thought.  I was so naïve.  The game is supper addicting.  You will start to play, thinking to yourself, “I will just play for a couple of in game days.”, and then before you know it you have lost an entire real life day.  The thing is, I am not even sure that it is fun, but there are so many little things to do that it digs its hooks in very quickly.

In Stardew Valley you play as a young city person who’s Grandfather has passed away and left you a run down farm.  He wants you to tend to it, so that you can escape the modern rat race.  Apparently this appeals to you, so you leave the city, head to Stardew Valley, and start up your farm.

It is all so simple at first.  You spend you money on seeds, then you water your seeds, and then you sell your plants, but then hey, you can go fishing.  If you want better farming equipment you will need copper and iron, so you better check out the old mine.  There are monsters in the mine, so you will need a sword.  Did you know that you can become friends with the townspeople?  You can, and it speeds it along if you buy them gifts.  They also have birthdays, so better not miss those.  It goes on and on like this.  There are also some very weird things that happen, which is great because it adds to the ‘fun’.

Nothing Stardew Valley does is complex, and obviously Nintendo has owned the lowkey farming sim for years with the Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing franchises, but this gives the rest of us a chance to relax and water a bunch of sunflowers then give them to townspeople who rarely give you anything in return.  Not that I am angry.

If you want something simple, yet engaging, and if you have more self control than me, something you can play for a few minute here and there, Stardew Valley is a great choice.  It is now out on just about every gaming platform known to man, so there is almost no excuse not to play it, except maybe not wanting to dream about your next potato crop.