TLDR, the game can be pretty inviting for players new to the ag racing genre with its very interactive tutorial that teaches you everything you need to know and there's a lot to chew on even for veterans of the ag racing genre. The story mode being especially new player friendly. On top of that the game has top notch music, levels, and gameplay that gives me chills whenever I boot it up to play.
XF Extreme Formula, although doesn't reinvent the ag racing genre with the ag racing aspects itself, what's there is super fun to play around with and push to its limits as the better you get at the game the longer you can keep chaining boost's even though some of the game's tightest corners.
There are also unique tracks that take place in space that has it's own unique gameplay style where as you can't boost all in space but as long as you have O2 (this game's boost meter) your ship will endlessly increase in speed until you reach the speed cap of 3,000 KP/H. The main danger when it comes to races in space is crashing into walls and colliding with other racers as doing either can potentially kill all of your speed you've built up. Of course you can mitigate the slowdown from touching other vehicles by using a ship with a high weight stats.
Which leads into the next part about the gameplay is the stats that defines how each ship plays which in my opinion the game does a very poor job of explaining. First up is weight which determines quite a few things such as: how much speed you lose when colliding with another vehicle, And how easy it is to leave the track off an incline as high speeds (useful for some of the cuts this game has to offer), Next is engine power which is one of 4 of the most important stats that makes a vehicle really good. Of course not every ship has to have high engine power but the ones that do can generate a ton of O2 due to another stat that I will explain later. Oh yeah it just determines your ships top speed. Acceleration is self explanatory, it determines how quickly your ship can reach top speed. Next is turning which 2nd of the big 4 stats. Again not every ship needs to have good turning but on some of the more technical tracks it can help out immensely. 3rd of the big 4 is boost which determines how much speed you gain from boosting. What males this stat so good is the overboosting mechanic which makes your boost's stronger the more you boost in quick succession, which can also stack indefinitely. I'm gonna be honest I still have no clue how the aero stat effects the ships but if anyone reading this knows feel free to explain in the comments. Ok now the stat that I feel most new players will overlook which is the freaking ram intake stat. By far THE most important stat to have so let me get straight to the point as to why it's so good. It determines how fast a ship can generate O2 at high speeds. It combos perfectly with both engine power and boost. It's good with high engine power as any ship with high engine power can generate O2 at a very fast rate without even boosting. It also pairs well with high boost stats as well making your ship very momentum based meaning the higher your overboost is, the less O2 is spent to boost leading to reaching crazy speeds. Ok now to quick fire the rest of the stats as they're easy to understand. Stability is not a stat you should pay attention to except for only one ship and that's the forgery's 2nd form which most players won't easily know how to select so it's safe to ignore this stat. Off-Road determines and well a ship handles off-road/water sections of the tracks. Hull strength determines how much of a beating your ship can take before your engine explodes, leading to getting disqualified from the race. Fuel Efficiency determines how much fuel your ship spends through out the race It also determines how long you can use hyperdrive, a mode that can be turned on with any ship that decreases fuel and hull integrity and a very fast rate in exchange for a massive increase in speed the longer it's used.
Ok time for story mode which I won't get too much into explaining how it works and the mode itself does a great job at doing it so I will talk about the things I liked about the story mode. The customization of the White Kestrel (the only ship you'll be using for story mode) is super fun and you can meld it into any type of playstyle you prefer with enough upgrades. Of course i went with a kestrel that had high engine power, boost, and ram intake which made lightwork of the later sections of the story mode. The beat em up sections were really fun for what's there. I often like rushing through them like I'm playing a megaman game. The story itself is very fun but it requires you really pay attention to the story as you'll easily get lost as to what's going on. And finally the music. I mean it's a Lake Feperd game. It's absolutely amazing and I listen to it on the daily whilst I'm doing all kinds of stuff during the day it's just a joy to listen to.
I know ag racers are a hyper niche genre and this game might not get that much attention because of it which is a huge shame since I can tell how much love and effort it took into making this awesome game. Believe me, I've been playing this since the first demo released and when it first got into early access but if you've gotten to this part of the review then please, give this game an honest try. There's a lot to chew on here and can be very new player friendly to those new to the ag racing genre. The story mode is a great place to start learning how to play the game and can prepare you for some of the toughest tracks this game has to offer.
