Game news Gran Turismo 7: series creator Kazunori Yamauchi tells us all there is to know about the PS4 PS5 racing game

Kazunori Yamauchi gave us a little of his time with a smile on his face, well aware that his Gran Turismo series marked a generation of French players. The flagship license in the world of automotive simulation has reached more than 80 million copies sold since the first episode in 1997, most of it in Europe. For half an hour, the president and founder of the Japanese studio of Polyphony Digital answered our questions about the next title announced as a homecoming, Gran Turismo 7.

Move back to bounce back better

But what does the term “homecoming” really mean to Polyphony? Quite simply a reminder of the golden age of Gran Turismo until episode 4, as shown by the various tributes in the trailer broadcast at the Playstation Showcase: iconic shots of the intro cutscenes of the first titles, return of the legendary Trial Mountain and High-Speed ​​Ring circuits… all on new generation consoles. A not insignificant communication according to Yamauchi-San: “When we finished the development of Gran Turismo Sport, I announced in an interview that the next game on the next generation will connect the past with the present, and the present with the future. This is what Gran Turismo 7 was designed for“

Connecting the past with the present, Gran Turismo 7 will already do with his new hub. This home menu will allow the player to navigate between the modes via a city seen from above, the latter being represented by buildings. An inspiration from the first four GTs with in these modes the big comeback of the used car market since Gran Turismo 5: “Our goal is to make Gran Turismo 7 a real racing simulator. And necessarily for the simulation to be good, you need a used car market, “enough to satisfy fans pained by the lack of the feature in Gran Turismo 6.

For the rest of the points of interest, we managed to decipher almost everything thanks to to Kazunori Yamauchi’s recent post on PlayStation Blog : A gargantuan photo mode called “landscape” (43 countries and more than 2,500 places to take pictures of cars in situation), the tuning space to improve your cars or the livery editor to modify their visual appearance, market of the occasion, solo campaign, online or GT Café which we will talk about below … One of the mysterious points on this map, namely the orange marquee at the top left was explained during the interview by Yamauchi, it is a space for missions and challenges.

A goal for Kazunori Yamauchi: Rekindle the passion

So content, but above all numbers: more than 400 cars when the game is released, more than 30 places and a little less than 100 circuit layouts. Completeness, one of GT’s main strengths, will be in the spotlight in the seventh episode alongside the single player campaign: “As usual we compete in races to win, get credits, buy new cars or parts to improve your vehicles, be able to play more difficult races … This principle is the same as other racing games, but in Gran Turismo 7 we have added another objective: to collect cars.“

There will be over 400 cars when the game launches, with over 30 locations and just under 100 track layouts. In Gran Turismo 7 we have added another objective: to collect cars. And if we have done this, it is to make the children and the players of the new generation new car enthusiasts. If you are developing a game where the only aspiration is to win races, you are not achieving this goal. –Kazunori Yamauchi

A collection aspect assumed with the new GT Café mode (not to be confused with GT6’s “coffee break” challenge mode) shown in the trailer and explained by Yamauchi: “this is a place where you can get cars, learn about the past of some iconic vehicles in the game. I think this mode is important because it is a way to get people in the world excited.“

All answers about online modes

About campaign mode, Kazunori Yamauchi also explained why this one would require a permanent online connection. : “The reason for making the game exclusively online is really to avoid any kind of hack or cheat from some players.“. The multiplayer modes will contain everything that can be found on Gran Turismo Sport, with some adjustments without the president of Polyphony telling us more:”We’ve learned a lot about championships and competitive modes through GT Sport, that’s all I can say.“. The novelty in online modes being the addition of a meeting point, a lobby where players can meet without further details. To close the multiplayer topic, we have finally had confirmation that Gran Turismo 7 will be cross-platform between the PS4 and PS5 versions.

Versions differentiated from a visual, sound and technical point of view: “The quality and depth of the graphics will of course be different between the two versions, on PlayStation 5 there will be 3D audio. The loading times will be much shorter on PS5, if not almost non-existent.“No surprise then if we add the usual tweaks on the new DualSense controller. However, we can not wait to see the rendering of some circuits on PS5 with the addition of weather / dynamic weather. Yamauchi had made great promises on this subject. The conditions related to the time of day, the space where the action takes place, the weather, humidity, ambient temperature or the temperature of the track will have a certain impact on the race conditions, and the visual rendering (visuals below). “The conditions must change our driving, some parts of the circuit to be faster or slower than others, for example with this new system of climatic conditions.“

Thirty minutes rich in lessons, but with enough mystery to keep us going until March 4, 2022, the release date of the title on PS4 and PS5. Evidenced by Yamauchi-San’s response when asked if B-Spec mode will return (an AI driver takes control of the car for the Career Mode events, with instructions from the human player). A smile during the question, an answer not so clear as that: “As I speak to you, nowith a mischievous little smile. More surprises to come for Gran Turismo 7?

Since the time that the fans follow us … It’s been almost 25 years now! Thank you for your support, it touches us. We really believe that Gran Turismo 7 is something everyone is waiting for. We hope everyone is looking forward to next March! –Kazunori Yamauchi

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