I love this game but I'm not sure why.

I don't participate in online communities much, so my perspective might seem really weird. I hope that's alright!

Not much of a grease monkey, but I know what the names of car parts are. This was a great way to learn a little bit more and understand engines more deeply. This isn't some trainer for becoming the ultimate wrench yanker, but it's juuuust close enough to feel extremely satisfying when you get that 'It Runs!' achievement. Maybe it's the isolation these past few years, I've been drawn more and more to these single player slice-of-life/doing a job for fun types of games. For some reason I can really get excited about having to drive a tractor all the way to Teimo's shop to pick up some body kit parts I ordered, even though my car hasn't functioned since I tried to take that sharp banked turn before grandma Sirkka's house. It has a really steep cliffside and is hard to take at high speeds.

Anyways, I play this game without joining any group chats or anything like that for it. I use the wiki to help me parse the Finnish translations and closed captions. I think it's more fun that way, playing it alone and not really talking to people about it. I make a ton of mistakes and a lot of them really make me want to jump in a volcano, but I learn from them and get better and then I notice when I don't make those mistakes anymore and it makes me grin. That's really all this game is, at least for me; native English speaker and German secondary. Overcoming challenges in language by connecting context clues to words you see or hear as well as overcoming mechanical challenges that can be just as difficult in a calm, relaxed setting is very cathartic.

Gameplay is great! The controls are fine and work, even with steering wheels and other peripherals. Some really useful features like the reach 'Q' and zoom in 'CTRL'. All the sounds are charming and all the characters have great personalities. Even though some of them are douches like Jani, he'll still race you for fun. I suppose I got into this game well past its trial and error phase so I don't have any takes on how it's grown over time. As the game stands, it's actually quite expansive. At first glance it seems like just the car and some jobs in a really sparse area, but, depending on where you are, at what time, how many times you've helped people; things will change and happen. There are lots of ways to make money that are more like side-jobs. Some change aspects of the town or characters! There are so many things to do besides unplugging the phone and shutting yourself in the garage to wrench on your car, and a lot of those things are enhanced when you do have your car finished. The main goal, at least for me, is to win the rally and get a gold trophy. Still an ongoing process. I should stop loving the long coil springs and learn to embrace the rally suspension kit... even though it is nearly ten thousand Markka.

My only real gripes are minor things. Terrain is very sharply jagged everywhere, leaving really stiff 'V' ditches and odd shapes that can really damage your car. Smoother, more natural terrain would really enhance the driving realism. More character interactions. Maybe something with Pena who (at the time of writing) has nothing to say. More idle things to do. Playing the video poker and slots machines as well as the poker in that small house at night are great fun, but I'd like maybe a VHS movie rental place for the TV at home or some more interactive items like different kinds of things like the fuzzy dice for the rear-view mirror. I would love like a highway hotel maybe where travelers sell odds and ends like snazzy dash covers or CDs for the car, since there is a ski resort area with inactive lifts and jumps. Maybe people on the side of the road you can help. If you bring the car jack and toolbox you can tighten bolts or jump their battery or put their wheel back on for a little bit of money. Just more things to do that flesh out the world with more items I can throw around my pad.

The game is a pretty big challenge, but nowhere near impossible or even extremely difficult. It looks a little rough, kinda like an early generation PS2 game, which I know can be a total no-go for some! The driving nearly requires a steering wheel, unless you really knuckle down and tweak the settings for steering controls for mouse and keyboard alongside tuning your car so no big scary changes are noticed at the worst times. Otherwise you will be sharply turning hard left and right with the default smoothing and assist. Other than some minor personal gripes and hopes for more goodies in the future, it's a game under twenty US Dollars that doesn't harass you with a season pass timer baiting you into playing for fear of missing out. Also, the developers are working on a sequel of some sort from what I have seen and we just got a fun stage in town that was added that offers a pretty funny short play and a very handsomely drawn cow, so there is very certainly more to come!