JDM: Japanese Drift Master Review – Grip is Overrated, Style is Everything
JDM: Japanese Drift Master review – Welcome to the heart of Japan’s drift culture, where precision meets adrenaline. JDM: Japanese Drift Master throws players into a breathtaking open world inspired by real-life Japanese roads, offering a mix of simcade handling, authentic car customization, and immersive storytelling through manga-inspired narratives. Every corner begs for a perfect drift, and every road tells a story—are you ready to master the art?
JDM: Japanese Drift Master Review Pros
- Awesome graphics.
- Download size.
- Steam achievements.
- Full controller support, and it worked with the DualSense (PlayStation 5) controller.
- Graphics settings – quality preset, monitor, display mode, resolution, automatic graphics settings option, fps cap, v-sync, resolution upscaling, resolution upscaling preset, frame generation, mirror quality, motion blur, ambient occlusion, anti aliasing, depth of focus quality, detail quality, effects, environment quality, post processing, shadows, texture quality, sight distance, global illumination, and reflections quality.
- Officially licensed cars and manufacturers.
- Display mode settings, units, language, manga reading assistant, and Colourblind support.
- Camera settings for each camera view and camera shake option.
- Racing and drifting gameplay.
- Opening the tutorial track with pop-ups as you drive around.
- Open world design, and you can freely drive around and then drive to missions and events.
- Driving assist options – ABS, ESP, gearbox, driving model (arcade/simcade), difficulty, and dead zone and sensitivity sliders.
- Three game difficulties – Easy, medium and hard.
- Steering wheel support.
- The player card shows your general player stats, car stats, races/challenges, titles earned, and player level and exp bar progress.
- Decent loading times.
- Manga book-style cutscenes
- Earn RP from doing stunts like drifting and speeding, a combo Meyer will come up, and when you stop, the bar will start going down. Crashing stops the scoring dead.
- Nine driving views and they range from bumper to aerial and even a mounted on the angle of your car view which is a new one on me.
- When drifting, you can get a bar to come up to help you control and maintain the drift.
- Drifting is not just tapping the brakes or letting off the accelerator; you can also do clutch drifting.
- They have made Japan look as beautiful and as gorgeous as it is in real life, a job well done and then some.
- Your smartphone houses all the menus, manga, and is used as your mini-map.
- Four types of missions – Drift, Drag, Grip, and Special.
- Unlock new apps on your smartphone as you progress in the story.
- Aside from the story, there are many side missions and events to take part in.
- The map lets you mark a mission and set a course on your mini map, and place your own marker down.
- When you nail a drift, it is so satisfying and makes you feel smug. Then you crash and it sucks but that’s a drifters dream.
- Drag racing is fun but hard to master. You have many things to juggle, from warming up your tires properly to timing gear changes for maximum speed.
- Grip events are more focused and controlled, and getting through a time limit rather than drifting.
- The Story has five chapters, each with their own Manga series that you can reread when you want.
- Driving school lets you go and practice driving events.
- Speed cameras are dotted around and will keep track of your top speed past them.
- Back to road button.
- Sushi delivery missions are timed but also have a style points criterion attached to them. You have a bar showing how damaged the sushi is, and a rank for style points is always there.
- The world does have AI drivers going about their business.
- Soundtrack-wise wise it has a selection of radio stations to jump between, ranging from chilled to rock to EDM.
- Day and night races with rainy weather are happening.
- You have a kick ass garage and driving in and out of it feels real good everytime.
- I love just cruising around the world and looking at the scenery.
- Tuner cars at night with undercar lighting look just as cool as you would expect.
- Earn money and upgrade your car, or visit the dealership and buy a new one.
- Must admit that later on, after a few hours, the events do level out somewhat, and once you get a car to how you like it, the controls get better and thus making a good lasting impression.
JDM: Japanese Drift Master Review Cons
- The loading times can be good, but they can also be slow.
- The problem with the Manga cutscenes is that they are hard to read from a distance and offer no accessibility options other than which panel order to read them in.
- The game will not always save or let me apply graphic setting choices.
- Manga integration is a nice touch, but it’s just so flat and brings the game’s pace and atmosphere down.
- For a game about drifting, they put a lot of little obstacles in the way, making it very hard to get into or maintain. Yes, that’s the art of drifting, but not breaking you in slowly in the early game is where my beef is sitting, waiting to be carved.
- Drifting controls are fine, but the normal driving about town and grip events feel off I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it feels loose and not responsive enough.
- I don’t like how you learn to drift in your car and then the very first drift competition is in a completely different car on a crap claustrophobic track layout.
- Online would really set the game off, whether it’s seeing players driving around the world or well-implemented races and leaderboards.
- The updates planned are good, but at the moment, it’s a game that could benefit from a couple of months of early access so it could respond to player feedback and feel more complete.
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JDM: Japanese Drift Master
Developer: Gaming Factory
Publisher: Gaming Factory, 4Divinity
Store Link:
JDM: Japanese Drift Master Review
Summary
JDM: Japanese Drift Master – The Thrills and Highlights of Gameplay: JDM: Japanese Drift Master delivers a thrilling open-world experience where players can freely drive around, take on missions, and dive into various racing styles like drifting, drag racing, and grip events. The game features officially licensed cars and manufacturers, nine immersive driving views, and a dynamic scoring system rewarding stunts like drifting and speeding. With customizable driving assists and three difficulty settings, players can tailor their experience for arcade-style fun or a more serious simcade approach. JDM: Japanese Drift Master – Where It Falls Short: Key Negatives: Despite its engaging gameplay, JDM: Japanese Drift Master has a few drawbacks. The drifting learning curve is steep, with little introduction before competitive events. Manga cutscenes, though unique, are difficult to read from a distance and lack accessibility options. Driving physics feel inconsistent between normal movement and grip events. Additionally, occasional save failures and graphic settings issues detract from the overall experience. JDM: Japanese Drift Master – Immersive Story and Narrative Elements: The game’s story unfolds across five chapters, each tied to its own manga series, which players can revisit at any time. The integration of manga storytelling adds a distinct flair, but at times slows the game’s pacing. Side missions, ranging from sushi delivery challenges to drift and grip events, add depth to the world, keeping players engaged outside the main narrative. JDM: Japanese Drift Master – Visual and Performance Aspects: Japan’s landscapes are beautifully recreated, offering stunning visuals and atmospheric day and night cycles with rainy weather effects. The graphics settings provide extensive customization, allowing players to tweak everything from texture quality to reflections. While performance is generally solid with decent loading times, occasional slowdowns can be frustrating. JDM: Japanese Drift Master – Overall Verdict: Is It Worth Playing? JDM: Japanese Drift Master captures the essence of Japanese street racing with its deep customization, satisfying drift mechanics, and immersive world. However, the steep learning curve and minor performance issues suggest it might have benefited from an early access phase for refinement. For fans of drifting and open-world racing, it’s a rewarding experience, but newcomers might find some mechanics tough to master. Back of the Box Quotes: “Grip is overrated—drift your way to victory in JDM: Japanese Drift Master!”
