Just returned to F1 2020...and what the hell did I just played??

Hello fellow racers,

First, I must admit, the new handling model in F1 23 has dramatically enhanced my driving experience compared to F1 22. Despite the game's other flaws, this improvement alone kept me from giving up on F1 23 entirely...or so I thought. 

I can't help but notice the lack of activity in the modding community this year. As a result, the urge to revisit older F1 games has been growing day by day. Out of curiosity, I went back to F1 22 for a few runs, and boy, the handling model was as dreadful as I remembered it... I quickly dropped it without a second thought.

Next, I didn't have many fond memories of F1 2021, so I decided to skip it and head straight back to F1 2020. That game, in my opinion, still stands as the best F1 title to date, which I have invested over 1700 hours in it. Though, I was still a bit skeptical that nostalgia might have clouded my judgment, given by my dissatisfaction with all the newer installments since 2021...Well, to hell with it, I decided to install F1 2020 again and see what it had to offer.

To my surprise...

Was this game really released in 2020?

First and foremost, the graphics were absolutely stunning (and no, I'm not joking). From 2021 onwards, I always felt that the graphics appeared strangely blurry despite running the game on nearly max settings (most noticeably were the drivers' model during the starting grid presentation since 2021, that was abhorrently bad). But in F1 2020, the color palettes and overall graphics were simply delightful, even without all the ray tracing enhancements and other fancy features, not to mention how undemanding and well optimized everything rans. 

Now let's talk about the handling model. I can't fathom what they've been doing with the models in 2021 and 22... The only minor criticism I have is the somewhat slow steering speed during quick direction changes using a controller (specifically during high-speed S-turns). Nevertheless, the rest of the handling model in F1 2020 was just as intuitive as the one in F1 23. It took me no time to get back up to speed at all because it  just felt so natural (even the crash physics was way less janky!).

And remember how we used to discuss the AI in previous games? Well, I wasn't wrong about F1 2020's AI either. It was the most balanced out of the four games released since then. They weren't overly aggressive like in F1 22, yet they remained relentless in their attacks when opportunities arose unlike the pushover AI of F1 23. Moreover, the AI in F1 2020 provided a high ceiling challenging experience without feeling like they were cheating, which was a major criticism for F1 2021 and 22.

I strongly urge anyone who has the game to pick up F1 2020 instead of sticking with the current mess we're experiencing. The current game just isn't worth the time until at least all the bugs and imbalances are fixed. While F1 2020 wasn't without its flaws upon release, most of the issues were already resolved through patches by the once passionate developer. Its current final form remains the most refined title in the series, and there's no shortage of mods to keep it fresh and exciting.

In conclusion, I'm not trying to actually discourage everyone here, but I still wanted to share my genuine feeling and thoughts to the current state of this series, because I'm just speechless on how many steps backward they've made for the series since (There're many more minor stuff I didn't even mentioned, such as many sponsor decals gone missing in the editor since 2021). I could no longer lie to myself and say that each installment brought some improvements that could overshadow the new flaws, because there really wasn't any, always half-step forward FIVE steps back.

For the time being, I'm definitely done with F1 23, it's time for me to once again embrace the actually well-polished experience offered only by F1 2020.

Thank you for reading this wall of rantings.
Happy racing to you all.