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Forums - Microsoft Discussion - What is your honest opinion on the Forza Franchise? Compeditor to GT?

d21lewis on 18 June 2011
CGI-Quality said:

( Digital Foundry).

 


I'm not trying to jump into this argument.  I'm just going to say that I just checked out the Digital Foundry (and Lens of Truth) in regards to GT5.  I admit that I skimmed them so I probably missed something.  I just didn't get the impression that they made GT5 look a particular way......



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daroamer on 18 June 2011
CGI-Quality said:
daroamer said:

That may not have been what you meant but it is what you said - "reviews do not prove which is the better game".  That's a far cry from "reviews are useful but not the end all be all".  What else am I to assume when you seemed to make a definitive statement?  I'm not even trying to be combative, I was simply curious since you said reviews don't prove anything what you think would be a fair metric with which to make a comparison.

Obviously this is a thread asking people's opinions but since you can never prove an opinion then other metrics are usually brought in to strengthen a point.  You're the one who brought up the comparisons of certain games.  I just didn't think it was a good point because most people agree GTA IV scores are an anomaly and it doesn't prove that all scores are useless.  The rest of your comparsions were for games that didn't seem to be directly relatable.  I don't care how many people mention Heavy Rain and Alan Wake in the same post, they're vastly different styles of games.

As for GT5s score, I don't think expectations alone would lower the score.  If GTA IV scores proves anything it's the opposite.  Everyone was expecting something superb and since there were no glaring flaws people scored based on their own hype.  I think after similarly huge expectations and the long development cycle people expected perfection from GT5 yet it had a lot of very obvious flaws, especially compared with parts of Forza 3, that the disappointed compared to expectations lowered the scores beyond where they likely should have been.  I don't think it meant that without those expectations it would have scored higher than F3 simply because F3 seems to be consistently good to great across the board while GT5 goes from amazing to iffy. 

I said from the beginning that Metacritic (as well as individual reviews) doesn't have the final say in determining what's "better" or not (even if they are a way of comparing titles). I didn't argue against using reviews as a means of comparing titles (which isn't the same as saying which is "better" or not). I said their take on what's "better" or not is subjective. Not sure how that was misconstrued as "shifting my argument".

What you say about HR & Alan Wake is, again, your take, but many compared them as they have enough similarities for their respective brands to be compared (games are compared like this all the time). Irrelevant if you or I disagree. but by your own views, HR is the better game.

Also, if an 84 Meta score is "iffy", then the industry is in trouble. Maybe in numbers the GT series has lowered a bit (as again, expectations change over time and competition gets tougher), but an 84 Meta is anything but bad. Yes, GT5's dev time as well as heavy expectations DID play a role in it's Meta score (a look at a few reviews would tell you that) and Forza doesn't have those type of expectations, so it won't be viewed as harshly.

How it's score stacks up against Forza 3's Meta score, however, is irrelevant to me, which is why I didn't compare them specifically on reviews, but on what they apparently got right, as well as what they got right in conjunction one another. Forza 3 seems to be the more polished game and better overall racing experience, while GT5 is the better driving simulator all around and more technically sound title (as in doing more than any other console racing sim out there). Since the debate started with your take on reviewers, don't take my word for it, see what they said about the two (including Digital Foundry).

To conclude; the points have been made, the argument is complete. It will only be monotonous and off-topic from here on out.

Just to clarify, I never said 84 meta is an iffy score, not sure how you misinterpreted that.  I said the quality and features of GT5 went from amazing to iffy which lead to it's score being lower than F3 which had consistent quality across the board.  For example, some of the standard cars looked horrendous.   In fact the whole standard/premium car thing is a really bad design decision IMO.  So even if GT5s high points were higher than F3's, it's low points were much lower which lead to an overall lower score.

Anyway, I'll conclude by saying the fight has changed anyway now that F4 is on the horizon.  The expectations are very high, we'll see how it turns out.



selnor on 18 June 2011
CGI-Quality said:
selnor said:
CGI-Quality said:
daroamer said:

That may not have been what you meant but it is what you said - "reviews do not prove which is the better game".  That's a far cry from "reviews are useful but not the end all be all".  What else am I to assume when you seemed to make a definitive statement?  I'm not even trying to be combative, I was simply curious since you said reviews don't prove anything what you think would be a fair metric with which to make a comparison.

Obviously this is a thread asking people's opinions but since you can never prove an opinion then other metrics are usually brought in to strengthen a point.  You're the one who brought up the comparisons of certain games.  I just didn't think it was a good point because most people agree GTA IV scores are an anomaly and it doesn't prove that all scores are useless.  The rest of your comparsions were for games that didn't seem to be directly relatable.  I don't care how many people mention Heavy Rain and Alan Wake in the same post, they're vastly different styles of games.

As for GT5s score, I don't think expectations alone would lower the score.  If GTA IV scores proves anything it's the opposite.  Everyone was expecting something superb and since there were no glaring flaws people scored based on their own hype.  I think after similarly huge expectations and the long development cycle people expected perfection from GT5 yet it had a lot of very obvious flaws, especially compared with parts of Forza 3, that the disappointed compared to expectations lowered the scores beyond where they likely should have been.  I don't think it meant that without those expectations it would have scored higher than F3 simply because F3 seems to be consistently good to great across the board while GT5 goes from amazing to iffy. 

I said from the beginning that Metacritic (as well as individual reviews) doesn't have the final say in determining what's "better" or not (even if they are a way of comparing titles). I didn't argue against using reviews as a means of comparing titles (which isn't the same as saying which is "better" or not). I said their take on what's "better" or not is subjective. Not sure how that was misconstrued as "shifting my argument".

What you say about HR & Alan Wake is, again, your take, but many compared them as they have enough similarities for their respective brands to be compared (games are compared like this all the time). Irrelevant if you or I disagree. but by your own views, HR is the better game.

Also, if an 84 Meta score is "iffy", then the industry is in trouble. Maybe in numbers the GT series has lowered a bit (as again, expectations change over time and competition gets tougher), but an 84 Meta is anything but bad. Yes, GT5's dev time as well as heavy expectations DID play a role in it's Meta score (a look at a few reviews would tell you that) and Forza doesn't have those type of expectations, so it won't be viewed as harshly.

How it's score stacks up against Forza 3's Meta score, however, is irrelevant to me, which is why I didn't compare them specifically on reviews, but on what they apparently got right, as well as what they got right in conjunction one another. Forza 3 seems to be the more polished game and better overall racing experience, while GT5 is the better driving simulator all around and more technically sound title (as in doing more than any other console racing sim out there). Since the debate started with your take on reviewers, don't take my word for it, see what they said about the two (including Digital Foundry).

To conclude; the points have been made, the argument is complete. It will only be monotonous and off-topic from here on out.

Don't want involvment here. But Alan wake and heavy rain are nothing alike. You may as well say Mario and uncharted. Seriously. They are 2 completely different genres.

That's funny selnor, you were one of the folks who opmpared the two (quite frequently at one point). Agai, I think it's interesting that they're now suddenly "not comparable". In truth, it's not about their game play that made them comparable. It was their situations (psycholohgical thriller, exclusive to one console, similar ideas in nature - story driven and full of suspense). The game play is very different, yes, but they have enough in common to be compared.

Again, it's off-topic. It was only used to make a point, in which the poster who said Meta determines what's better or not agreed that the title with higher Meta "is the better title". 

I haven't changed anything. What I said was they both were pushing storytelling and breaking the mould. However I meant in there respective genres. I in no way meant or instigated that they were the same genre or even remotely played the same. Both games aimed for new depths. That's it.

They are not comparable in any other instance than what I said above.



Michael-5 on 19 June 2011
ethomaz said:
d21lewis said:
ethomaz said:

Michael-5 said:

Polyphony Digital has 140 employees, but how do you know how big turn 10 is? I can't find anything ,can you show me a link?

Third question .

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4144/racing_evolution_forza_3_and_the_.php

Forza 1 = 200 people
Forza 2 = 250 people
Forza 3 = over 300

No wonder Forza 3 is so much better!  They had twice as many people working on it!!

I know you are kidding... but I can accept you and other linking more Forza 3 than GT5... after all that's subjective and personal.

I just can't accept people here saying PD sppended 5 years in GT5 while Turn 10 just 2 years in Forza 3.

Turn 10 team is three time bigger than PD team... in proportion PD wasted less time with GT5 than Turn 10 with Forza 3.

Well, then you raised a good point. Forza 3 was still developed in only 2 years, where GT5 took over 5, but Turn 10 is over twice as big, so in reality, the time spend in development per person is about the same.

I raise you two questions:

1. Why isn't Sony expanding the PolyPhony Digital group? Gran Turismo is Sony's biggest exclusive franchise, by far, and it also get significant support from Nissan. So why hasn't the studio grown from 140 people and up? Had they had a larger group, maybe all 1,000 cars in GT5 could have been premium models? Maybe the physics could have been touched up to be clear cut better then Forza (I preffer FM3 overall for physics, but the difference is small). Maybe the game could have had more specials, been less buggy online, or overall been more accessable. Maybe GT5 could have just released a year or two sooner, and we would be expecting GT6 soon. I hope Sony expands PD, but why do you think they haven't?

2. How crazy do you think Forza 4 is going to be? If Forza Motorsport 3 is about as good as GT5, then FM4 is almost like a GT6 by comparision. After all Jeremy Clarkson gives a dictated audio bio for every car in the game, how nuts will this game be? Will the graphics and physics improve as drastically as they did from FM2 to FM3 (10x the polygon count!)?



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skeezer on 19 June 2011

I've loved the GT series since back in 1999 when I got GT1 and later GT2, GT3, GT4, and now GT5. I've spent countless hours in all of them. However I feel like PD wasted too much time on GT5 and I noticed that GT5 really isn't that much different from GT4. I hope Forza 4 will show great advancement in the simulator genre so that maybe PD notices that they could doing a much better job and then someday when GT6 releases it will leave me breathless.


Unfortunately I'll never have a chance to play F4 since I don't have a 360 and don't plan on buying one just for Forza 4. >.



^_^

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selnor on 20 June 2011
CGI-Quality said:
selnor said:
CGI-Quality said:

That's funny selnor, you were one of the folks who opmpared the two (quite frequently at one point). Agai, I think it's interesting that they're now suddenly "not comparable". In truth, it's not about their game play that made them comparable. It was their situations (psycholohgical thriller, exclusive to one console, similar ideas in nature - story driven and full of suspense). The game play is very different, yes, but they have enough in common to be compared.

Again, it's off-topic. It was only used to make a point, in which the poster who said Meta determines what's better or not agreed that the title with higher Meta "is the better title". 

I haven't changed anything. What I said was they both were pushing storytelling and breaking the mould. However I meant in there respective genres. I in no way meant or instigated that they were the same genre or even remotely played the same. Both games aimed for new depths. That's it.

They are not comparable in any other instance than what I said above.

You compared them often (going as far as to tell me how much better AW would look than HR as well as how much better the game play would be). It was certainly enough to contradict what you're saying in here, but that's fine, no need to explore it any further. In the end, they are comparable, which is all I was saying (but wasn't my point regarding the comparison of the games).

Now now CGI. That's a huge cluster of straws there. C'mon.

U know very well comparing graphics and whether I think its a better game does not make them comparable in the sense you are in this thread. Personal preference aside. The games are not comparable.



HappyHenry on 20 June 2011

GT3 was my fave one of all the GT games, but to me GT5 was a mess ,from the awful menu screens and lack of customizing,to the poor online options.Forza has got better with every game so far,GT hasnt its gone backwards.









goforgold on 20 June 2011
selnor said:
Great to see everyone discussing nicely. Anyways here's my 2 cents. Currently one franchise has a clear direction and one doesn't.
GT was at its peak with gt3. Since then its been directionless and lost. Whether or not that's because forza was on the scene right after gt3 with fresh ideas I don't know. Coming to todays consoles with gt5 and forza 4 is a wired scenario. Gt5 promised so much. Instead 800 of the cars looked worse than forza 3's. All in all polyphony seem to have lost there way. The franchise has become monotinus. And its not like polyphony to be outdone visually so easily.
Forza has captured the car market better, the community is more lively and the options are much more.
This would be different if gt5 was as promised and actually fun to play. But its just a chore. And I am a simulation lover through and through.

ok I couldn't resist, what did GT5 promise that it didn't deliver, how have PD lost their way??



slowmo on 20 June 2011

I prefer Forza for the following reasons:

The career is more fun, not a dull as GT's feels to me
The AI racing in single player is better in Forza, far less tram lining
The customisation (mainly paint options)
The better community feel
Continual improvement on the series with each release innovating new features

The above are personal preference and not facts so nobody needs to get their knickers in a twist. In my opinion going forward, the number of fans is so heavily biased in favour of GT for historic reasons, that it can only start swinging in Forza's favour if they keep releasing quality games. I doubt it would be "the" sim racer though unless PD released a turkey by accident (very unlikely).



makingmusic476 on 20 June 2011

I can't remember who exactly said it (Joystiq?), but they basically said Gran Turismo is the better piece of software for gearheads, while Forza is better for the average gamer.

That's how it seems to me, as well. Gran Turismo takes the cake when it comes to the sheer amount of content in the game, but if you look at any of the content available in both games, Forza generally makes it more accessible, palatable, and social.