the simile i keep making to describe how i feel about ring racers is that it feels like a dish created by master chefs who are absolutely experts at their craft, they made a beautiful tasty meal and i get to eat it for free, but they spent so much time in the kitchen cooking and preparing this elegant meal that they forgot to consider that other diners will need plates and utensils and a table and that some people might want salt and pepper shakers. so here i am reaching into a boiling hot pot with my bare hands to eat this amazing food, and i feel like a bit of a jerk for saying i don't want to eat like this, because they are feeding me for free and have spent so long making this meal and it is objectively tasty when i actually get the food into my mouth.
basically, it feels like a very insular fan project that didn't really get any outside perspective until it was too late. you know how it's so hard to make a good and difficult mario maker course because people get too good at playing it themselves, and then they end up making it TOO hard? it's kind of like that in a very, very maximal sense.
a more direct gamer comparison that's been on my mind is one my friend washy made - we both spent a TON of time competing in time attack in SRB2 kart a few years ago and i think we both have firmly agreed for a long time that SRB2 kart is the best kart racer ever made, so we feel really strongly and passionately about it. so ring racers is kind of like how fighting game players talk about new installments of fighting games. the most immediate comparison is that this game is kind of like our Street Fighter 5. but you even see it happening now with, like, how Tekken 8 players won't stop complaining about Tekken despite obviously enjoying it.
this game makes me so sad in some ways, but it's MY kart racer!!! i'm just... very keenly aware of what works and what doesn't about this new iteration. i can't see myself spending the same amount of time grinding time attack in ring racers like i did in SRB2 kart. but also, i am having a hard time putting it down, so they certainly did something right! between me and my roommate, there's certainly a lot of ring scattering noises emanating through my apartment the last few days!
i want to make a more detailed post about my actual critical thoughts on the game instead of just abstractly saying "i dunno, i'm kind of disappointed!" but mostly i am grappling with the very interesting emotions this game is bringing out of me LMAO