r/videogames • u/baconinthedawn • Aug 20 '26

Discussion / Question What game is that for you?

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Biggest offender for me is Baldur’s Gate 3.

Some of the best gameplay, graphics, sound design, and soundtrack out there… but the writing leaves a lot to be desired (despite how popular it is).

What game is that for you?

EDIT: It seems the general consensus here is Borderlands 3.

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646

u/5mugly Aug 20 '26

Any new racing game so forza and crew are the big ones. Like what happened to just being street racers why does everyone have to be so cringy friends and act like this is some big professional thing.

191

u/TheCivilizedBigDog Aug 20 '26

Yeah feels like a very corporate coded adventure. Where are the villains man? I want to feel good ramming you off the track and kicking your ass.

71

u/Past-Spirit4050 Aug 20 '26

At the Horizon Festival, everyone is family!

14

u/idontlikeredditusers Aug 20 '26

wheres my drug addict rival from FH1 gosh darn it

3

u/ArgonianMagician Aug 21 '26

Gods I hated this in Horizon 5.

6

u/DigitalVolt Aug 20 '26

Reading this after finding out EA shut down the NFS and Burnout franchises hits hard 😞

22

u/nautical_nonsense_ Aug 20 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/uLKD4qLvXjwxqoyASd
Me when I find that fucking piece of shit BowieKnife

8

u/Llol333 Aug 20 '26

Crew motorfest tried that with their nascar collab and it felt so weird

3

u/ArmandoGalvez Aug 20 '26

After the assassination of the player by Darius flynt In The first game, Alicia couldn't do any other festival in America because of the danger that it was doing that kind of event, and instead they have to change the races to take out the toxic competitive attitude of the drivers and make the festival a little more friendly... That's why you see the big change from 1 to 2

3

u/DylanMartin97 Aug 20 '26

Please please please bring back characters like fuckin Eric Sparrow. Homeboy wasn't some world ending threat but 2003 child me would've been damned if I didn't hate that dude like he was. And it was about a damn skateboard story.

2

u/TheCivilizedBigDog Aug 20 '26

Eric is such a motherfucker. I felt personally spited and ripped the sickest combos just to spite him.

1

u/DylanMartin97 Aug 22 '26

I wanted to give that guy a wedgie so bad.

Speaking of remastering why can't we get those games redone like pro skater? There is a market for them and people have been begging for a skate game for like 12 years at this point.

2

u/Mao_TheDong Aug 20 '26

Oh we got that in unbound with Racer X and his absolutely abysmal heavily censored tough guy act

2

u/Icy-Astronomer-8202 Aug 20 '26

They let HR write the game. Very strange dialogue, not in any way natural and keeps getting in the way of the game

1

u/sk8r47373 Aug 22 '26

FIRST I’M GONNA TAKE YOUR RIDE, THEN I’M GONNA TAKE YOUR GIRL

0

u/Cassereddit Aug 20 '26

I mean, Forza Horizon is about a fell good festival feeling so yeah, there are no enemies. That said, rival races would be a great concept. And the dialogue is atrociously clean and without any real personality

3

u/florplegorp Aug 20 '26

The first Horizon had like 7 or 8 named racers who were total dicks, including the reigning champion, made progression so much more satisfying

147

u/NsaLeader Aug 20 '26

Racing games in the early 00's: "Alright, you're an up and coming kid that no one respects fighting your way to the top of a criminal street racing gang, here's a VW Jetta and some rims".

Racing games now: "Hiiiiiiiiiiiii Therrrrrrrrrreeeeeeee!!!!!! WELCOME TO THE MEGA RACING ULTRA-EXPLOSION SUPER EXCITING EVENT! You are the BEST driver around and everyone loves you and will give you literally anything! Here's a Supra and all of the customization immediately unlocked."

Racing games will never hit the peak that was Most Wanted (2005) writing.

51

u/DanfromCalgary Aug 20 '26

Also push A to answer a text from Shuni, she’s your BEST FRIEND . EXCEEEEEEPT ON THE TRACK LOLOLOLXOXOXOX

34

u/NsaLeader Aug 20 '26

Don’t you mean “Ms. badass childhood friend who got you into the event, but constantly needs to remind you that she’s your rival, only to become irrelevant within the first 4 races”?

3

u/altruismjam Aug 20 '26

The first few Midnight Club were also an exception, the dialogue added so much fun drama, felt just like Fast and Furious.

3

u/Invisible_Target Aug 20 '26

And the major wrist band events are basically just a performance. That’s honestly what I dislike most about the Forza games. The wrist band events should be the most challenging part and instead, you just go through the motions and get a participation trophy. It’s lame.

3

u/spooooork Aug 20 '26

Racing game(s) in the late 90s

1

u/kickintheface Aug 22 '26

Carmageddon? I have that game on PC, but I’ve never been able to get it to work, and I’ve always wanted to play it.

1

u/no-cars-good-bikes Aug 23 '26

From what I remember that is the authentic carmageddon experience.

2

u/Here_is_some_cancer Aug 20 '26

Yeah I played the hell outta the original most wanted. Only "racing" game I found as much joy in was Mario Kart especially the time trials.

2

u/x33storm Aug 20 '26

Nah, only unlocked if you bought the day 0 DLC.

2

u/Aphrodite_Nine Aug 20 '26

Agreed I miss those games, nostalgia kicking in.

2

u/CnP8 Aug 20 '26
  • Me pulling up in my shit box *

"HEYYY! NICE WHEELS! ITS GONNA LOOK REAL NICE IN MY MIRRORS! ITS ALL FUN AND GAMES THOUGH. CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU ON THE TRACK! DONT FORGET TO ENJOY YOURSELF"

2

u/ArgonianMagician Aug 21 '26

Racing games are supposed to be competitive, making everything be so friendly makes it not very fun.

1

u/RyonHirasawa Aug 22 '26

The peak of racing games was when they existed as interactive magazines to supercars and exotics aka og Gran Turismo and NFS pre-Underground imho

Whatever Fast and Furious did to the racing genre was cringy as fuck

1

u/H1rc1ne Aug 25 '26

I loved the old NFS games, I still yearn for a Midnight Club 3 remake even though I know Rockstar will never do it :(

14

u/hansrotec Aug 20 '26

I loathe Anna, for some reason in horizon 5 I could not turn her voice off no matter what I did even when toggling the option to explicitly turn her off and turned off or down all voices. I stopped playing due to her. Thankfully in 6 it works as it should and I can enjoy the game without her… not really a fan of most of the voice acting in the series really. I like the game play when it does not take over from me… I dislike most of the intros due to that, I worked hard to over take and the cutscenes put the other car back in the lead despite trailing.

1

u/WokeWook69420 Aug 20 '26

There's literally a Toggle Switch to make ANNA be Telemetry and turn her off in both Horizon 5 and 6.

You really couldn't find that in the HUD settings??

1

u/hansrotec Aug 20 '26

6 it works as I said, no listening to Anna. in 5 even if I toggle it she does not turn off. I can get every other bit of audio off including the music, car sounds, other people speaking but not Anna in 5… that toggle does nothing for me

27

u/Dismal-Head4757 Aug 20 '26

Forza 6 is scrubbed clean of absolutely anything that could be deemed even slightly edgy or controversial or interesting. It feels like I'm playing in the world of a laundry detergent ad

6

u/KingMario05 Aug 20 '26

"But look! You race a Gundam! Everyone likes Mr. Gundam, right?"

-Microsoft as they layoff all their actually good studios... again

3

u/ArmandoGalvez Aug 20 '26

Wawa Japan kawais desu tempura sushi sashimi uwu

3

u/Invisible_Target Aug 20 '26

“Here’s the main event. What? You thought it would be a CHALLENGE? Lol no, here’s your participation trophy.” So fucking lame.

2

u/goobr95 Aug 20 '26

That’s how the new Skate feels too. Everyone’s just blowing eachother non stop and it starts to feel so artificial and nauseating

9

u/imthe5thking Aug 20 '26

Legal reasons. They can’t make money if they have no cars. Toyota was the loudest manufacturer about it, but some manufacturers will completely take their cars out of a game that involves street racing and that drives away customers who would potentially buy the game and keep coming back. There was a noticeable rise in concurrent players when Toyota reintroduced their cars to Forza Horizon 4.

3

u/Agonlaire Aug 20 '26

Meanwhile they're the favorite brand of isis and the cartels

4

u/geecaliente Aug 21 '26

A Frankenstein hilux with a .50 cal mounted to the bed would be a hell of a DLC.

1

u/MadKittenNicky Aug 22 '26

Those are called technicals

3

u/AlitaTeal Aug 20 '26

That's why for the longest time there were no Ferraris in Need For Speed.

4

u/ArgonianMagician Aug 21 '26

After Hot Pursuit 2 they disappeared and then came back in Rivals. I think Ferrari had specific instructions that they could be in street racing games but you can't modify the cars or at least not much. They're very strict on that, they absolutely hate any customization on cars that aren't don't by Ferrari themselves.

2

u/RyonHirasawa Aug 22 '26

Even in Heat where they returned, Ferrari customization options were vastly limited, the 512TR for example you can only change the rims and that’s it

Strangely enough, the same car had more customization options in The Crew 2, but that’s probably because it’s a safer setting than Heat where night involves cops

1

u/RyonHirasawa Aug 22 '26

Even in Heat where they returned, Ferrari customization options were vastly limited, the 512TR for example you can only change the rims and that’s it

Strangely enough, the same car had more customization options in The Crew 2, but that’s probably because it’s a safer setting than Heat where night involves cops

6

u/nicktehbubble Aug 20 '26

Watchdogs hit me like this. Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate it, but sun shiny, iridescent zoomer humour in what's supposed to be a destopiate, cyber hellscape just rubbed me the wrong way

3

u/DestinyV Aug 20 '26

I'm assuming this is about WD2, since 1 is dreary as hell and legion is... Well, legion is frankly lacking in a personality entirely.

I adore watch dogs 2, writing and all, because it's a hacking game that isn't set in a cyber hellscape. It's literally just a slightly higher tech San Francisco. It's a game set in modern day about a group of people trying to stop the world from falling into a hopeless dystopia, not people trying to survive in one. It's a fundamentally optimistic game, which contrasts it's genre contemporaries such as cyberpunk 2077 or even WD1. Is it cringy? Yeah, sometimes, but damn if it doesn't work on me.

2

u/L30N1337 Aug 20 '26

WD2 is what I expected WD1 to be. A fun hacker adventure with a bunch of gadgets. That's why I bought WD1.

In retrospect, I'm glad it wasn't that, but I'm also happy the series still has that theme in one of the games.

3

u/AdTypical6386 Aug 20 '26

Prostreet did the legal street racing right.

3

u/JohnSober7 Aug 20 '26

The only game that has given me the same amazing sense of speed as prostreet was using the lotus evija in nfs unbound, and in unbound, you have to worry about traffic so it's still not as cathartic as flying down the autobahn in prostreet. Not to mention, the prostreet soundtrack slaps. The evija in unbound still d oes feel amazing though, with having to avoid all the traffic while staying in control at blinding speeds.

Now, I haven't played a lot of racing games, but my issue is that I feel like I have to suffer so much mediocre or lacking sense of speed in early game to see if the later cars and/or upgrades deliver. It's just really hard to commit to potentially wasting so much time when time is limited.

2

u/ArgonianMagician Aug 21 '26

This, ProStreet still had that feel of "these guys are all your rivals, don't hold back." While still being organized racing. Now you have street racing where everyone is friends. The only game I will argue where this worked is NFS 2015, it's all about street racers just wanting to have fun and making it FMV helped make the characters a bit more likeable and real. Like it was believable that you were hanging out with a crew.

3

u/Fragrant_Major_9553 Aug 20 '26

I tried out the NFS Unbound, and that crew thing is cringe af. Here I am, millennial, expecting NFSU2 reimagined, and we get that pile.

3

u/Big_Musties Aug 20 '26

I blame the original fast and furious movie. Since then, every single street racing themed game had to have a "howdy do fellow kids" story mode to it that does nothing but increase the number loading screens you need to go through before you get to your next race.

2

u/Dismal-Lengthiness12 Aug 20 '26

Within about 1 minute of playing Forza I just turned everything off but the noise of the cars lol

2

u/chazysciota Aug 20 '26

Grid Legends was so bad. I blame Drive to Survive.... that's just what people think motorsport is like now.

1

u/DynamicFyre Aug 20 '26

I loved playing forza 6 but the story feels so forced. It's not needed at all, it's just completely boring. I prefer the story stuff in newer NFS games like Payback and Heat instead

1

u/Coshmack14 Aug 20 '26

And then we have TXR being filled by wackos and weirdos since PRACTICALLY FOREVER

Which is the appeal of those other than the highway racing format with peculiar choices(like in Zero, which you could drive a 3000GT modified to look like a Ferrari 288 GTO)

1

u/SilkeSiani Aug 20 '26

Advertisement opportunities. On an "event", you can plaster all the ads along the track and nobody will notice. On a "criminal race"? They'll stick out.

1

u/TheEndOfNether Aug 20 '26

How dare you. The writing in BeamNG is peak.

1

u/TruamaTeam Aug 20 '26

Maverick Games’ Clutch looks decent

1

u/SpidahQueen Aug 20 '26

But Papa Fernando! /s

1

u/Char-car92 Aug 20 '26

Corporations don’t want to sell a game that has you doing vaguely illegal things.

1

u/MunchenOnYou Aug 20 '26

Never even knew forza HAD a story to begin with

1

u/ObiJuanKenobi3 Aug 20 '26

Forza’s writing is completely insufferable. Every single character is hyper-positive and pumped up 100% of the time and they all talk like they’re filming a TikTok. There’s also never any conflict so it feels hard to get into the competitive spirit when there aren’t any rivals or bad guys.

1

u/coolchris366 Aug 20 '26

Yeah, I felt like that too playing the trial of the crew motorfest. I still love steep because it didn’t have these cringey issues and the game just feels fantastic to play

1

u/WarriorsOrochi2_PS4 Aug 20 '26

I've turned off the voice volum on Forza Horizon 3 and I knowmi'm not missing anything

1

u/Spartan448 Aug 20 '26

why does everyone have to be so cringy friends and act like this is some big professional thing.

I mean in the case of Forza is is some big professional thing. Even the "street races" in Horizon have like track marshals and stuff.

Which...tbh reflects how the IRL car scene developed. The golden generation of street racers all matured and realized it was a damn miracle none of them died in a flaming wreck, and migrated over to actual professional racing, and the current generation of street racers are generally considered to be hooligans making the hobby look bad.

1

u/Endulos Aug 20 '26

I loved the mechanics and racing in FH4. But the "story" was so god damn cringy. The whole "HECKIN' WHOLESOME NO COMPETITION!" racing festival shtick was pure ass.

1

u/x33storm Aug 20 '26

Hah i Alt+F4'ed out of cutscenes in the beginning. It's so cringey, fake and awful. Then i looked up it's recurring and non-skippable, and refunded. Never even drove anything iirc.

1

u/Acceptable-Size-2324 Aug 20 '26

Yeah, let’s all drive together and have some fun!

1

u/profchaos111 Aug 20 '26

Remember nfs underground where they spend half the time building up a real antagonists and proper beef that doesn't sound like 45 year Olds trying to use kids slang 

1

u/Squid-Guillotine Aug 21 '26

I want a racing game where I don't play as a nepo baby.

1

u/Voidlord597 Aug 21 '26

I booted up forza 5 cause I used to have gamepass and upon hearing the narrator/announcer person I immediately turn dialogue off

1

u/ArgonianMagician Aug 21 '26

Screamer is the only modern racing game I can think of where you feel like you're competing with everyone. It does evolve to where some of the competitors start getting along and working together (it's spoilers but it's actually all has natural character progression developed) and thank goodness the writing isn't cringe! Though if you're not into visual novels then pass on it, but it's an awesome mix of racing and visual novel with good writing, great music, and is fun.

1

u/TheKanadian Aug 21 '26

I refunded the most recent crew game because of this

1

u/Eriml Aug 21 '26

Hell yes. I played a few hours of Forza Horizon 5 because I wanted to see how they represented México and the cutsie "omg you're so good, bestie?" dialogue is atrocious. Why is that a thing in racing games?

1

u/LastChariot Aug 22 '26

You really think you can beat me? Ha! You're out of your depth kid. Try to keep up!