So I beat all 3 leagues/difficulties/whatever of FAST RMX and got 1st place and I wanted to share my thoughts
And a lot of them are negative, but I think they're justified. I don't need to just "git gud", I practiced and beat it and got 1st on everything, a game flaw is a game flaw, don't cop out with empty trash remarks.
- More reused content than I expected
- Looks very good, seems even better than the Wii U version
- Gameplay etc. is basically the same
- What really confuses me is that they didn't seem to put any real effort into fixing the problems from the previous game
I feel like for what's basically an enhanced version of a previous game with some extra content, they didn't really bother to learn from their previous mistakes... and having to deal with the same crap as the last game almost makes it more annoying. After all, a series should develop and build on previous stuff...
So what are some of the problems?
1. The game doesn't explain any of the controls or mechanics to you, except how to switch colors. And even that it only does like, if you mess up or something, IIRC, idk, I vaguely remember seeing it once. It has the controls listed somewhere but it doesn't explain the game premise or what the different stats do or anything. What does weight affect? How do you unlock cups? How does boosting work? (What does a higher "boost" stat equate to)? Some things you might be able to figure out, like sure I've played racing games before, and I've already played FAST Racing NEO, so it doesn't affect me much personally, but a player shouldn't have to guess at basic mechanics because the developers take it for granted or just don't feel like explaining it or whatever. This is just stupid.
2. Terrible AI. Rubber-banding, boosts that don't make sense, they mess up when you're near them but if they're far ahead they basically play perfectly... making it such that you can't catch up to them... a lot of the time races were based on sheer luck because I basically had to hope the AI would mess up or fight each other or whatever for me to get first. This is made worse by the fact that on the first lap of a given cup or whatever a set of races is called, you start in 10th, so you have to boost forward and fight through other AI to get to first, while first often just gets a free lead that is very difficult to overcome
3. Some terrible maps. I think Mori Park and Iceland are two of the worst racing maps I've ever played on. One is BS luck-based and makes the bad AI more noticeable with dumb crates that you can get lucky and not have to dodge or that are moving so slow you can hardly tell which way they're moving, making them difficult to dodge (especially with other cars in the way), while Iceland is like a lamer version of Fire Field from F-Zero GX (has to be mentioned since someone else might if I wouldn't given it's such an obvious comparison to make), you can't see obstacles until you hit them, the ending is extremely easy to crash on, and sometimes you can actually strategically crash and then respawn and boost because it's more effective... this map is just not fun really, if it were better designed it might be but instead it's just lame. It's not even that hard to get a 1st on it, you basically just don't crash and watch as the AI do, but that's just lame. :\ There are some other lame maps too but those two stuck out the most to me.
Aside from these major issues, it's lacking a story mode or any sense of like, world building or the like IMO (I mean some maps even look super similar), but I can overlook that due to the price, so whatever. The cars seem slightly less bland from before, so I guess that's a good thing, though I can't even be sure about that.
Oh yeah, I've had issues where the game randomly messes up my acceleration and stuff and like, spins me in a way I can't really explain, it punishes boosting a lot due to ceilings on stuff, and crashes often mean instant losses... especially if it's not on the first lap, as even when I'm NOT crashing, but rather driving well, the AI can basically come out of nowhere and get in front of me like nothing
You also can't play individual maps in multiplayer, which is lame. You kind of can in single player with Hero Mode, I guess? Not that I want to do that. Being able to select individual maps in multiplayer is cooler, so you can mix and match, rather than being forced to do specific cups, and play maps/tracks you don't like to get to ones you do. :\
There are probably more problems I'm forgetting but I think this enough.
I like racing games quite a bit, had a bit of a craving for some anti-gravity racing, and the game looks good (with a few good music tracks), but I don't think I can overlook all of its problems a 3rd time, so if they make another "FAST" game, I think I'll pass, or at least get a confirmation it's way better. They really need to work on making the game more reasonable, better explained, better fleshed out, and less full of just... crap. It kind of reminds me of Dark Souls with its potential to be great and fun gameplay marred by some questionable design decisions (trying to put it lightly here).
I think objectively I'd give it maybe a 6/10, and in terms of personal enjoyment, maybe a 7-7.5/10 since again, I like unrealistic and fast racing games. Hard to recommend it to non-racing fans though, which is a shame since with a bit of work it could be a "core" Switch title IMO, one people would recommend for new Switch owners or the like not just because it's one of the few notable/exclusive launch titles. :\ *shrugs*
