Forza Horizon 5's Hot Wheels expansion is out, and while the racing is the best its ever been, the open world suffers.
VGChartz's Lee Mehr: "At their ideal, expansions can be of great benefit both creatively and commercially. Given how much budgets have increased, ranging from pricey indie to AAA titles, it’s not as work-intensive to incorporate the main game’s skeleton into a side story, prequel, or whatever else. And if the main title garnered a wide swathe of fans, they’ll happily come back for more (at a fair price). 2022 marks the second time we’ve done this award. The results were surprisingly different from 2021 in this respect: half of the six finalists came from two racers (Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Forza Horizon 5). Let’s see what crossed the checkered flag onto our shortlist."
Delicious Last Course, it's not even debatable. Those guys and girls cared about what they made, it's clear in every frame of hand drawn animation. Whether I "win" or die, I always notice something new. The attention to detail is phenomenal, and the additional content so well integrated that playing Isles 1-3 plus Hell without a trip to Saltbaker's bakery no longer feels like the full game.
“Every year as a fun bonus, we highlight the best console exclusives so here are PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch's top titles.” - A.J. Maciejewski from Video Chums.
“Finally, it's time to hand out awards to the biggest video game productions of the year so here's the very best in 12 distinct categories.” - A.J. Maciejewski from Video Chums.
Review wise Bayonetta got trashed. But I guess it is the only action title released this year so easy win.
Horizon is a good game but you spend far more time crafting and gathering than anything else not to mention the long cut scenes. Elden ring should have won open world award.