Gran Turismo 7's Laid Back Vibes Are A Relief After Forza Horizon 5

thegamer.com:

Forza Horizon 5 is exhausting. It's a great game, but the way it relentlessly attempts to pump up your ego is grating to the point where it distracts me from the racing. People are constantly fawning over me and telling me how great I am. I'm always the best, the fastest, the greatest—even if I spent half the race bumping into the barriers and came in fifth. It's not only annoying, but kinda patronising too. I've never wanted a game to shut up more.

Gran Turismo 7 and Forza Horizon 5 are very different games, of course. One is a hardcore driving simulator, the other is basically an arcade racer with some light simulation elements. Still, it's remarkable how different the vibe is in the former, and what a breath of fresh air it is to play a racing game without being harassed by endless, hollow positive affirmations. Horizon treats you like a child with a short attention span. Gran Turismo treats you like an adult.

Related: Gran Turismo 7 Review - A Pristine Driving Experience

If you get bronze in a licence test in Gran Turismo 7, your instructor simply says, in plain text, "Well done. You passed the test." There's no fanfare, and there shouldn't be. They get a little more excited when you earn silver or gold, but it's still restrained praise. If this was Forza Horizon, getting bronze would probably make the screen explode with confetti and fireworks as the most obnoxious voice you've heard in your life yells "Woah, dude! You KILLED it!"

I'm exaggerating obviously, but you get the idea. Forza Horizon is a loud, drunk guy at an EDM festival wearing neon shutter shades and a jester's hat, shouting "Woooo!" whenever you do absolutely anything. Gran Turismo is a well-dressed middle-aged gentleman reclining in a worn leather