Disney Speedstorm Review (LittleDeer)
I would love to recommend this game, truly. Gameloft's previous Disney game (Dreamlight Valley) is amazing and generated a lot of good will for me. This one, however, is strictly "mixed" as it stands right now.
The gameplay is great. The racing feels good, items feel good, all of that is great. Customization is played a bit too safe for my liking, with all cars looking relatively similar and all outfits being some form of racing suit. As someone who loves cosmetics in games, it leaves a bit to be desired. The roster is diverse and ever-growing, the OST is full of beautiful Disney remixes, and the maps are pretty and fun to play on.
The primary negatives with Disney Speedstorm is an awful attempt at monetization and games-as-a-service elements. For one, this game appears to have a lot of gacha elements. Whether you hate gacha or not (I personally enjoy gacha in most cases), it is exceptionally poorly implemented here and simply not enjoyable. It also leads to pay-to-win in certain multiplayer modes (some modes will put everyone on equal footing). Further, collecting characters through this gacha and having to upgrade them via duplicates is really just not an enjoyable form of progression for a kart racer.
I have a lot of leniency when it comes to how free-to-play games monetize. I understand microtransactions are a necessary evil to stay afloat, and I understand that these games follow the hypothetical idea that whales (heavy spenders) will pay for everyone else to have a free experience. On paper, this works when done correctly, but can also easily lead to an unfair or enjoyable experience. Disney Speedstorm has it all implemented so poorly that an otherwise very fun game becomes a grind just to unlock characters and make them viable for content. Not to mention, the difficulty curve is quite high (even story mode) and is clearly designed around you having duplicates and well-built characters.
At the end of the day, I don't recommend Disney Speedstorm in its current state. I enjoy Disney Speedstorm quite a bit, and would be truly heartbroken were it to shut down due to lack of players and support. However, my hope is that Gameloft will switch course and fix the major issues as opposed to just abandoning the game - the PC market still lacks a good kart racer, and this game *could* be it! But not like this.