>Five Years in development
>Half of the cars roster are upscaled from GT4
>B-Spec is just half-baked Pokemon
>Online being a big factor
still had fun

Unfortunately, I can’t give an objective review of Gran Turismo 5 (Although one can argue that no one can objectively review a subjective experience). GT 5 was given to me at a very young age and was the first proper game I played. Ever since then, I’ve played it on and off. So, you can imagine that my nostalgia for this game is immense. I won't beat around the bush, I am biased. GT 5 has many flaws, the UI is confusing, everything still sounds like a vacuum cleaner and there is less than events to do than before. Many consider it a downgrade from the last instalment. However, for me, GT 5 will always hold a special place in my heart and I will continue coming back even years later.
Would I recommend it? Well, it's still a good racing game, but even though I haven’t played any of the later releases, I can’t imagine that GT 5 has something that they don’t have.

Story
None, Gran Turismo they’ve never had a storyline.

Mechanics and gameplay
The formula hasn’t changed for GT 5. You race, you get more cars, more races are unlocked. Licence test are still here and still hard. The missions are more varied and interesting. The big new addition for the series is the multiplayer. You can play with multiple people from the same console with split screen, unfortunately the servers for online play are long gone. I never did experience it, even though I had the game back when it was available.
I have never driven an actual car, so I can’t tell you whether the driving is realistic. I did find it enjoyable, responsive and overall, a good experience, that provides enough of a challenge that to be a good driver, takes skill.
1074 cars and 77 tracks with dynamic whether are enough for everyone right? I guess not considering Gran Turismo 6 exists.

Graphics/Artstyle
When it was released, GT 5 was ahead of its time graphics wise, of course now it's clear that this is an old game. Still, a good enough picture could fool the unsuspecting eye.
Did you know all the cars from GT 4 were ported to GT 5 with tweaked models? Many have complained that it's obvious simply by looking at the model to differentiate which is from the old gen. Personally, I had no idea, I played this game for close to a decade and just recently found this out. Make of that what you will.
Car sound are still vacuum cleaner level.
Still has the professional, clean style that is common with the Gran Turismo series.

Atmosphere/Immersion
The game doesn’t really try to immerse you into its world, mainly because it doesn’t have one. The barrier between game and reality is as clear as day.
I think that is to be expected with this genre.

Soundtrack
The OST can be split into two – the relaxing menu music and the race music. The menu music is mainly jazz and classical and is incredible. Many hours have been spent listening to it while preforming some other tasks.
The race music is also great, it features multiple genres of music like rock electronic and others from a variety of artists.
My favourite part is “5oul On D!splay” by Daiki Kasho. It’s a real shame that it isn’t on any streaming platform.

Final Thoughts
Young me absolutely NEVER used the brake, full throttle throughout the whole race. It is a logical conclusion. After all, why would you want to press the button that makes you go slower.