When I first saw the trailer, it looked like a good time to mindlessly play for fun. And was I right! The open world is much, much larger than I anticipated. Every solo and pvp event is on the map for you to explore. You can trick out on bikes, snowboard down a mountain, ski a race, glide through hoops, or test your rocketwing through natural arches. The map is a beautiful blend of real national parks. From snow covered cliffs to red rock stone arches, it's gorgeous. They did an amazing job with the environment.
You can explore with a radio station or turn it off if you prefer. When you first experience a big event with an edited song playing in the background, it gets you pumped! However, there is a downside to having songs tied to events. If you're a completionist, you may have to replay event for stars. Hearing the same song, over and over, was annoying. The radio is limited and you cannot change it during an event. I am burned out on certain songs. The main narrator is overly talkative. I had to mute my sound a couple of times because I wanted to concentrate; not hear his terrible puns for the 47th time.
The sound is a minor complaint. The most complaints I have seen online, and experienced, are about mass races. Every 30 minutes, the game runs an event with 64 players in real time to compete. It can be fun, but frustrating if you're wanting top three. Some of the races use your equipment. Each equipment has its own stats. That means someone can easily pass you if their bike/ski has a higher speed stat than you. Players complained about the unfair balance. So the game added more races to have everyone on the same piece of equipment with the same stats. Now there's an issue of 64 players all bound together by moving the same speed ping ponging together. You can be moving straight, have another player bump into you, and be launched a direction. It's less about stats and more on luck, hoping you aren't tossed around. They need to continue tweaking this but overall the game is well done.
At 70 hours I have earned my platinum trophy. But I did not complete every event, earn every star, or finish every challenge. There's a ton of content and I felt it was well worth it.
You can explore with a radio station or turn it off if you prefer. When you first experience a big event with an edited song playing in the background, it gets you pumped! However, there is a downside to having songs tied to events. If you're a completionist, you may have to replay event for stars. Hearing the same song, over and over, was annoying. The radio is limited and you cannot change it during an event. I am burned out on certain songs. The main narrator is overly talkative. I had to mute my sound a couple of times because I wanted to concentrate; not hear his terrible puns for the 47th time.
The sound is a minor complaint. The most complaints I have seen online, and experienced, are about mass races. Every 30 minutes, the game runs an event with 64 players in real time to compete. It can be fun, but frustrating if you're wanting top three. Some of the races use your equipment. Each equipment has its own stats. That means someone can easily pass you if their bike/ski has a higher speed stat than you. Players complained about the unfair balance. So the game added more races to have everyone on the same piece of equipment with the same stats. Now there's an issue of 64 players all bound together by moving the same speed ping ponging together. You can be moving straight, have another player bump into you, and be launched a direction. It's less about stats and more on luck, hoping you aren't tossed around. They need to continue tweaking this but overall the game is well done.
At 70 hours I have earned my platinum trophy. But I did not complete every event, earn every star, or finish every challenge. There's a ton of content and I felt it was well worth it.