Test Driven: Kaido Genkai, Steam Demo

Welcome to Test Driven, a look at previews, demos, and unfinished builds of racing games new, and old. It's the amuse-bouche to understand what the chef is going to serve you when it comes to the full meal, and a deeper dive into history if it calls for it. It can be a demo found on a disc in a magazine, an official press preview, or tucked away in a full release to show off what else the publisher has on offer.

And if you developing a game and want me to try and then write about it, you can always drop me a line.

This edition of Test Driven looks at the Steam demo for Kaido Genkai.

In the midst of playing through Screamer, Tokyo Xtreme Racer and the time when I do league race in Gran Turismo 7 I had a realization. The racing games that have most often filled my time and effort throughout the years have required a higher level of brainpower out of me, and that I do need to find and enjoy other racing games that allow my brain to rest. Racing games are among the genres where that constant load and brainpower is at it's highest, alongside fighting games and MOBAs, where moments of rest and downtime are often sporadic and still riddled with background information that needs to be parsed before the workload picks up again. Those experiences dominate the headlines among those who write, and market, racing games and I am guilty of that too.

I need to slow things down more often, let the joy of driving speak for itself and perhaps let the allure of more soft experience where winning isn't everything be at the forefront. Perhaps for those of us who have this genre be our main and race at highest levels or at least at very high speeds, we do need more comfy experiences and we do need to slow things down. The mind needs rest, and to be able to take joy in the mundane and those quiet tableau we see every day that we often take for granted. I often believe that we take what we do in this genre for granted too much in chasing the infinite impossibility of replicating reality and that forever desire to be the fastest. What if we just want to drive and discover in a world that's a little more humble?

I need a small town, slow and small cars, and above all else, modesty. We all do.

We're taken to a small, fictional town in Japan; and we go back to basics. Kaido Genkai's opening feels like a Pokemon game where you're getting on your feet on the start of a journey. It's different here: you're not some ten year old starting the traditional journey away from home with a new companion, but you're returning back to rebuild yourself after a mysterious accident that befallen your mentor and you took the fall. You have a chance to right wrongs, help people along the way, and get back to the joy of driving that was once lost. Kaido Genkai is a free roam racing game, but it's an adventure where the racing knows it can't be the be-all and end-all. The game's lineage and through line aligns with Choro Q HG 4, titled ChoroQ in North America, where it's about a quiet and flowing game world and objectives filled with unique characters and dialogue throughout the world. You'll help unique characters with tasks along the way, and some will want to race too, as you rebuild your reputation and trust among those residences who know about the incident.

The demo on Steam takes you through those initial throws of getting back to the swing of things. Races are short, but crisp and while the driving dynamics are fairly straightforward they do a very good job of allowing the car to do what you are asking of it. A quick hit of the hand brake and cars will rotate around sharp corners well, though the automatic transmission shift logic struggles with the quick changes of direction and momentum. Importantly though, you're here on your own time: you can do those races and quests whenever, or just drive and see everything in this one region has to offer. To just drive around in one of a few classic JDM icons and enjoy the soundtrack and the incredible night sky-box is a treat in it of itself. And what you'll realize, as a good demo should, is that you'll want to be here when there's more to see and explore.

It's only a couple hours to see and drive everything there is to do in the demo, but there's no rush to get things done and actually finish the demo. We often take for granted the raw joy of just going for a drive with there always having to be some objective before us in more contemporary free roam racing titles. It gets compounded when it's increasingly easy to get in cars that go well beyond the speeds we do in everyday driving, spirited or otherwise. The cars in Kaido Genkai comparatively speaking are slow and down to earth, but they make you feel uncomfortable when taking corners above 100 km/h. The secondary speed effects kick in at 90 km/h and it's apparent the game world was built for these kind of speeds, speeds that we can easily enjoy in our own personal vehicles without getting in over our head. Speeds we can do while we drive with our friends on local back roads, or in Kaido Genkai with a friend in local multiplayer using the mod created by Silent.

Free roam racing games should be more willing to be a more down to earth adventure, and we need that more humble contrast to the big horsepower, big money, and big scale of the worlds in Test Drive Unlimited or The Crew. We need those experiences that also aren't just visual reflections of the real world either, and the cel-shaded, anime look of the game is a major breath of fresh air. The car models are all top notch work done by Hacaosuka Works and the soundtrack pairs well the with the visual style and the different phases of gameplay. When a majority of the heavy lifting is all done by a single developer, everything is allowed to follow their singular vision and it results in the Kaido Genkai demo being as cohesive as you'd hope for such a game to be. It's uncorrupted by outside influences, and that's the beauty of the new wave of racing games made by solo and independent developers.

I often ask and wonder what is truly next for the racing game genre. I wonder about how much more runway there is in the AAA free roam experience, as well as in the world of replicating reality and racing. A part of the answer requires there to be a fuller ecosystem of racing games exploring the full depths of what could be possible in terms of driving and story telling experiences that has felt neglected in the last few years, by developers and journalists following the genre alike. A revolution for the genre is coming, but we need to allow it to thrive with games like Screamer and Kaido Genkai at the forefront. The demo for Kaido Genkai is proof positive that a better genre will continue to be possible.

You can try the demo for Kaido Genkai and wishlist the game on Steam, as well as more directly support the development on Kickstarter. A full release will come, when it is ready.