JDM: Japanese Drift Master Review

The resurgence of the racing genre can be attributed to the popularity of the Forza Horizon series, causing both realistic simulators and more casual arcade racers to adopt an open-world format similar to that series.

I have a fondness for both types, and combining thrilling drives with numerous collectibles scattered across a vast open space, along with small activities and diversions here and there, really appeals to me.

When I spotted the Japanese Drift Master, JDM, arriving at the location with an unmistakable Initial D influence, it only served to heighten my anticipation since envisioning thrilling drift performances synchronized with Eurobeat music feels like a wish come true.

Beyond making an excellent initial impact, it guarantees outstanding Simcade handling that aims to offer the best of both genres, ensuring smooth control regardless if you’re using a keyboard, controller, or a comprehensive racing setup with a steering wheel.

As a passionate gamer, I can’t help but feel exhilarated about this game with its immersive narrative woven seamlessly into the experience through an engaging manga style. The captivating music only adds to the excitement, making me believe that it ticks all the right boxes and is destined for greatness.

In my analysis, I’ll be evaluating the balance between the open-world aspects and the mission structure of this JDM review, which I tested on my computer using a controller. Along the way, I may encounter some technical hiccups.

Clutched Up

The game provides you with two control modes: simcade and arcade. Immediately upon trying out the simcade controls, I found them unpleasant. The auto-drift felt unrefined, the steering was unreliable, and it seemed like an awkward blend of two distinct styles.

When using arcade controls, the drifting feels fantastic, the control overall is enjoyable, and it doesn’t seem nearly confusing or counter-intuitive.

It seems that this game appears to be designed primarily for individuals who are extensively experienced in racing games, given that the car customization is entirely manual and comes with minimal guidance. However, if everything else about the game were more straightforward, it would be acceptable.

In this game, although the expert emphasis lies on drifting as its foundation (with most tasks and goals depending on your drifting abilities), it seems that drifting alone does not fully sustain the overall gaming experience. Despite finding drifting enjoyable, it appears that it doesn’t carry the weight of the entire game.

As a gamer, I’ve got to say, I’m more inclined towards games with classic arcade controls. You know, the ones where I can swiftly swipe the control stick left and right to score bonus points? It just feels more intuitive and fun to me than games that don’t offer this option.

At a minimum, I’d appreciate a greater mix of activities. To be honest, the main attraction outside the narrative in Japanese Drift Master is the scattering of speed challenges throughout the environment, along with some undeniably

(You may replace “undeniably” with “certainly”, “undeniably fun”, or simply remove it for a more concise sentence.)

As a gamer, I find myself often yearning for the freedom to roam freely across the expansive game world. However, the landscape seems to be dotted with barriers that my vehicle can’t breach, leaving me confined to the main paths. It feels like there’s little incentive to venture off the beaten track and truly explore this virtual terrain.

Using an inconsistent mini-map and a flawed navigation system that fails frequently, the game gives off a misleading sense of being linearly structured. Yet, it boasts its captivating sceneries and stunning locales, often seeming to mock you, as if daring you to explore beyond the apparent limitations.

Second Gear

The JDM campaign essentially consists of multiple tasks sequentially linked, each requiring you to accumulate a large number of drifting points within a restricted duration, accompanied by an additional goal. Generally speaking, they are alright.

The primary concern with these tasks is that they can be either frustratingly difficult, surprisingly simple, or a combination of both. For instance, consider the “Training or Competitive Drifting” mission, where the aim is to maintain proximity to another vehicle while accumulating more drifting points.

This task can get quite aggravating since overtaking the other vehicle isn’t an option, and a significant portion of your score relies on drifting closely behind it to maximize the multiplier, which accounts for about 90% of the gameplay here.

The game doesn’t seem to offer much in terms of progress or achievement beyond the initial stages, as its primary focus is on drifting, which can become monotonous when used as the main objective rather than a secondary skill.

Experience the thrill of high-speed adventures! It’s true that the speed-focused missions offer a fantastic gaming experience, outshining drag races and traditional races found in many other open-world racing games. However, these fast-paced segments make up only about half of the entire gameplay.

Let me put it this way: If the game had been a typical racing title, where speeding up and outperforming opponents were primary aspects, while drifting took a back seat, I believe it would have offered a much more rewarding experience.

To be clear, I do appreciate drifting, yet I believe it provides a greater sense of fulfillment in games such as Forza Horizon, where it serves as an expression of skill that earns points, or even in Mario Kart, where it’s less complex but still forms a crucial part of the gameplay experience.

The game tends to lose my interest frequently. It seems that every time it tries to become difficult, it becomes merely annoying because the solutions to the challenges are usually repetitive, and I yearn for greater complexity within it.

Blinding Lights

I think the visual style of JDM veers off significantly from its intended target. Instead of embracing an energetic, animated look like the rest of the game, it opts for a highly detailed, somewhat subdued, and desaturated appearance.

Picture a transformation of the game into one that embraces vibrant and fashionable aesthetics reminiscent of Need for Speed: Unbound’s hand-drawn or cel-shaded effects. Alternatively, it could adopt a fully cel-shaded design, opting for an entirely colorful and stylish look over its current style.

Despite my best efforts, I find that the images I see just never seem to lose their graininess, no matter what settings I tweak. I’ve fiddled with antialiasing and even turned off resolution upscaling, but neither seems to improve things significantly.

As a viewer, the oddly low level of detail in this game really pushes objects at a distance into a blurry, unappealing mess. It’s almost like staring at a grainy soup, where nothing seems distinct or clear, except for certain parts of the user interface.

The design of the menus and certain in-game visuals is quite stylish, but some user interface components and pop-ups appear rather generic, creating a jarring contrast with the overall aesthetic the game aims to achieve.

As a gamer, I find myself struggling to grasp its identity. Simplicity could’ve been its strength, as each captivating aspect seems overshadowed by the unrefined and commonplace elements. The gritty visuals make it tough on the eyes.

Check List

The narrative seems quite unusual, not because its subject matter deviates from standard racing manga plots, but rather due to an odd sensation that it doesn’t align well with the rest of the game.

In this game, the characters are silent and lack a distinct voice, meaning you must rely on reading their stories in the manga for inspiration. While it functions adequately, I yearn for a stronger emotional connection with them, which could be achieved by giving them voices or deeper character development.

Including a bit of voice acting for Touma, along with some dialogue during gameplay, could significantly enhance the connection between gameplay and text content. However, even without this feature, the narrative itself remains engaging and well-crafted.

A Polish racer, whose racing license was revoked in Europe, relocates to Japan and gets himself into various mischiefs. Numerous races against overconfident adversaries take place, creating a sense of fulfillment throughout the entire experience.

Get The Satellite

In the realm of Japanese Dominion Motorsport (JDM), the music selection often mirrors that of contemporary racing video games. It features an assortment of tunes across different genres, broadcasted through various in-game radio channels, and is typically quite enjoyable.

As a gamer, let me share my thoughts: The game initially gave off an exciting Initial D-inspired Eurobeat vibe in the intro, but when I got into the game, it defaulted to music that feels more like a TikTok trend soundtrack for thirst traps. That’s just not my kind of groove.

On most radios, the selection of music was significantly superior, but when advised to change channels, I opted for Eurobeat radio instead and have stuck with it ever since, as it perfectly captured the atmosphere I desired for this game.

For the remainder of your listening experience, it follows what was anticipated, yet perhaps lacks originality and fails to captivate. Nothing stands out significantly, and although it functions adequately, it doesn’t leave a lasting impression.

Under The Hood

While I typically prefer not to devote an entire segment of my reviews to the technical aspects of a game, JDM’s performance is exceptional yet incomplete, making it worth discussing. It might just be the least fully-cooked game I’ve had the opportunity to review.

Initially, my computer is equipped with a Ryzen 5 5600X processor and an RX 6600 graphics card. This setup typically allows me to play most games smoothly at High or Ultra settings in Full HD (1080p) with a steady frame rate of 60 FPS. However, I occasionally experience dropped frames and brief freezes.

This currently operates at a moderate level, and elevating it further only makes things more problematic. Remarkably, despite receiving preferential treatment and generally outperforming similar equipment, it still had some distinct flaws.

The game performs inconsistently, averaging around 40 frames per second (FPS) at lower settings, and it’s challenging for it to exceed 30 FPS when pushed higher. Additionally, I attempted to adjust the resolution once, but now the game never correctly displays at the original resolution again.

On their own, these problems are significant, but they become even more troublesome when compounded by the sluggish loading speeds. To make matters worse, the game often experiences softlocks during the initial warning screen, and its settings are rather disorganized.

In simpler terms, the control options are scattered and confusing. I was unable to set controller input on a PC, it malfunctioned frequently on Steam Deck, and the settings are hidden in illogical menus that I couldn’t understand at all.

It appears that either the game was released prematurely without sufficient optimization and quality assurance, or there were significant flaws in its development and testing processes, making it difficult for users to navigate effectively.

The issues with this game seem straightforward to resolve, yet here I am reviewing it because it was provided in this condition. Upon closer inspection, it appears that the game is riddled with bugs and functions poorly – a situation that’s less than ideal, especially so close to its release date.

Finish Line

In summary, while JDM improved over time, many found the game tedious or aggravating more than enjoyable, particularly during missions demanding precise car customization and frequent restarts.

It seems that the game could be around 10% less tedious if the resets occurred swiftly. However, the frequent and prolonged loading screens are just as cumbersome as those in Sonic 06, giving the experience an overall sluggish, frustrating pace akin to a laborious journey.

I had high hopes for JDM, particularly for those with a complete racing simulation setup who are fans of manga and drifting. However, because of its rough, unfinished feel and poor quality, it’s not an easy choice to recommend.

If you approached this game anticipating an immersive experience akin to a thrilling racing anime with stunning graphics, intense competitions, and a captivating environment to delve into, unfortunately, JDM falls short in meeting these expectations across the board.

Closing Thoughts

Japanese Drift Master delivers an open world experience that is quite straightforward, initially offering little enjoyment but gradually becoming more engaging after several hours. However, even then, the missions can be either excessively challenging or overly simplistic. This game might captivate dedicated racing game aficionados with comprehensive racing sim setups, but for casual players using a controller seeking an entertaining experience, Japanese Drift Master may feel monotonous at times. Despite occasional bright spots and controls that provide a nice arcade feel, the overall gameplay doesn’t quite measure up to greatness.

2025-05-20 15:11