JDM: Japanese Drift Master

I am just a regular gamer who like to play racing games with a controller but I play all kinds (From NFS, F1, Dirt, to Asseto Corsa...etc), but my favorite is usually Rally games since they have real roads, extra points if it has Japan/East Asia stages. I do know how to drive but never drifted in real life so can not comment on how realistic the drift mechanic is. However, I do like the handling that cars feel heavy with limited grip on the road so you can't corner a 90 degrees intersection at 100kmh, or brake from 150 kmh just 20 meter before a huge curve expecting the car to slow down enough to make it. Drifting does bleed lot of speed which make grip build actually viable. So to me the handling is more realistic than most other open world arcade racing games. The handling definitely needs some getting used to. It was a bit frustrating for me in the first hour, but it becomes much better after some practice and car upgrades. I am only 10hrs into the game so still struggling a bit with the drift mechanics and some of the drift events. Throttle controls seem to be more important than counter-steering which i do not mind. The grip during rain is surprisingly low which makes it very challenging. The difficulty level in events vary quite a bit, some are very easy while some are very hard. The GPS is a bit broken, but that makes me actually try to read the map and remember how to navigate the world base on landmarks. What objects are breakable in the games seem a bit random which can be frustrating for some, but it just makes me to have the habit of actually trying not to hit anything like in real life. The best part about the game: the world. It is so beautifully done and makes me feel like actually driving in Japan's road. Does not matter if it is the city center, highway, small village, or mountain roads (I have been to Japan and many other countries in the East Asia in real life). There are so many small details in the world design that I know the developers did their homework on what the roads are actually like in Japan. It is not like most other open world racing game that the streets are always so big and wide with so much run off that they essentially just become a very pretty track. The beautiful world kept me engaged in the first hour when I was still struggling with the handling. I am actually enjoying just driving around to discover all the different roads and check out the scenery. Such a beautiful world to cruise around when not in racing mood. Last time I spent time exploring street to street in an open world racing game was probably back at the original NFS Most Wanted. This makes the broken GPS not an issue for me at all. If you like to try a less arcady open world racing game, don't mind spend some time to get used to the handling, and interested to explore what real roads are like in Japan, definitely give this game a shot. I can not believe this game is done by a small studio. Best open world racing game for me in the last 5 years minimum.