Review: JDM: Japanese Drift Master

Developer – Gaming Factory

Publisher – Gaming Factory , 4Divinity

Platforms – PC(reviewed)

Review copy given by Developer

It’s no secret that I am a car enthusiast, considering my main bread and butter are racing games, so with the release of Japanese Drift Master (JDM) coming out so soon, you know I had to be a part of it. The promise of an open-world simcade based around Japan is every drifting/JDM car gamer and enthusiast’s dream come true. Where does it line up with all the other drifting experiences? Is it worth your purchase?

My first impressions of Japanese Drift Master (which I will refer to as JDM for short from now on) are from a completely blind entry with absolutely no experience or impressions before playing for the first time. I chose to not watch or read anything ahead of my first time playing because I wanted my experience to be my own and not clouded by those who try and down-talk non-mainline style racing games.

JDM immediately throws you behind the wheel of a beautiful Top Secret S15-inspired wrapped Nissan Silvia S15. Immediately the first thing I’m impressed with is the sound and the model; it’s absolutely beautiful and very well made. I chose to play with the “Simcade” physics instead of the arcade physics because I feel like I have a good grasp on racing physics in games. The game has a very similar, yet almost unique, feel when it comes to driving, giving me a Need for Speed crossed with Forza feeling. When it comes to drifting, however, the handling takes a few minutes to properly grasp, but it’s fairly easy to slide around and put the car where you want it.

When it comes to racing games, it’s no secret that a campaign mode really has no dialog or character development as a normal action-style game would, but JDM puts a well-enjoyed spin on the narrative. The story mode is told through the eyes of a manga (Japanese graphic novel) following you and all the characters you meet on the way. The illustration is very well illustrated and is such a good concept to deliver some narrative and background to your racing/career you partake in. There are 40+ narrative-driven events currently with additional side quests, which may not be the most content for a career-based game, but it’s still very fun and enjoyable.

I spend a fair amount of time doing modeling on Blender, specifically automotive work, so I’m very picky when it comes to vehicle models. I can absolutely say these models look and feel very well done and professionally laser scanned for accuracy. The interiors all look detailed and well modeled, giving you immersion for those who play cockpit view. The sounds are obviously all recorded original sounds, bringing every car to life with its unique tones and sounds. A good-sounding vehicle is as important, if notre so, than a good-looking model, and they absolutely succeeded. All the customization options are well made and based on real-life counterparts, giving you the opportunity to customize your ride with unique visuals.

The biggest selling point of JDM to me and a lot of other enthusiasts is the fact that it’s a fully open world map based on the Gunma Prefecture (dubbed Guntama in the game). There are over 250 km of roads to drive and explore up and through mountains, little towns, and even some racetracks. On the topic of race tracks, you drift nerds would be happy to hear that Ebisu has made its way to JDM (dubbed Ebigo Safari Park in the game) as well as Tsukuba Circuit (dubbed Tsugoya in the game). The open world is so visually stunning, especially when paired with the active weather system allowing for heavy rainfalls to spice up your driving experience. I am absolutely in love with the open world. I hope many other developers take into consideration that this is what we have always wanted all along.

But of course, with all that’s good, there follows some bad. The AI is, well, for lack of a better word, just not good. In races I found myself easily passing drivers but immediately being slingshotted around in a very unrealistic way, causing one of the craziest rubber banding I’ve seen. The same goes for drift battles; following a leader is very difficult because of how slow they drive and not really challenging because of the lack of points they will generate. Another issue I’ve run into, which should change with future updates, was random invisible walls you will run into just driving, which can definitely be infuriating. When driving at night, NPC headlights are very dull and hard to see, making it really difficult to drive fast and cautiously at night. One last huge issue I felt needed an immediate fix is the physics for an AWD car. All-wheel-drive cars react very differently, being very difficult to take corners, and just feel so handicapped, like it was a last-minute thought. There isn’t even a photo mode or replay system. In a game this beautiful, you can’t express it through photos, a basic feature that should be day one for any automotive game.

JDM is promising to be a unique experience, but in its current state, I feel they should have spent more time developing it before release. But I have to give them all the credit they deserve because this is such a strong attempt for their first time creating an open-world racing game. They accomplished a lot and can fix all of their problems with tweaking in updates, creating a better experience for everyone. Hopefully Gaming Factory takes into consideration the negatives and improves and continues to update and support JDM, adding content with updates. In the current state, I can’t fully recommend a day one pickup in fear it may ruin some people’s experiences and turn them off to the possibility that this game will shine very brightly with fixes. Until then, JDM will be scored on its current state.