During the Gran Turismo 7 State of Play, series producer Kazunori Yamauchi has shared what fans can expect from the next game in the franchise.
Stat-wise, one key takeaway from the Gran Turismo 7 State of Play is that the racing game will launch with over 400 cars, over 34 locations, 90 layouts, and upwards of 100 race events.
Within these races, there will be a weather and time system that can actually develop within certain races – for longer tracks, Yamauchi stated that it can even be raining in some areas but not others.
For a wider look at the game, Gran Turismo 7 brings back a world map for fans to navigate the racing game’s various content zones. This includes several different car dealerships where players can purchase cars from. A used car dealership will sell a variety of cars that change day-to-day, a Brand Central will offer cars made after 2001, and a Legendary car dealership will offer the highest tier of vehicle.
As well as that, there’s a completely new “central point” on the map called the Café. The Café is a new location that Yamauchi says acts as both “a guide for exploring the world of Gran Turismo,” as well as a “gateway for learning about automative culture.”
Within the Café, players can take up menu book missions, which can be played to unlock the game’s ending. During visits to the Café, famous figures involved in the world of automobile design can drop by: as spotted in the State of Play, designers Tom Matano and Freeman Thomas both make an appearance. Likewise, the Café owner will also teach players about the history of any cars that appear in the menu books.
Speaking to press, Yamauchi shared that “because we have such a complex system here, the Café is something that really sort of provides a roadmap for the things you can do in the game. In the form of these menu books, they’re not going to be very hard targets, but theory lead the player to understand the different things you can do in the game and it’s something that will give a better understanding of the world of Gran Turismo.”
On the topic of complex systems, more depth has been added to the tuning and customisation systems of Gran Turismo. Players will be able to change minute features of their vehicles, and performance points will now be based on a simulation that is run in the background of the menu. On the tuning, Yamauchi added that it’s “like having a mini game inside this settings screen.”
Elsewhere, Gran Turismo 7 will include plenty of new music-related content. This includes over 75 artists and 300 music tracks from a variety of genres, but there’s also some new ways that this music is used. First up is the music rally, a new game mode where players must drive along a track to the beat of their chosen song. Players must finish the track before their beats run out, though they’re replenished at certain gateways across the map.
Secondly, a new music replay system that Yamauchi says is “one of the big new inventions in Gran Turismo 7” will allow fans to rewatch their replays with the cameras synced up to a song of their choice. In a demonstration, a race replay showed camera cuts syncing up to the rhythm of the music.
On the subject of adding more music-related content Yamauchi said it’s something the studio has wanted to integrate “for a really long time,” adding that the ideas were pieced together over five years of development.
Gran Turismo 7 is set to launch on March 4, 2022.
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