Starting off, I am myself a motorcycle rider that do a lot of track riding, and my hope going into this game was more looking for a Forza Horizon styled experience (without the open world) more than a NFS one.

Is the game good? Yes, if it is your particular kink. The game is unforgiving, it's got glitches/bugs and AI that can ruin your race. But when it doesn't do something stupid, it's my favourite motorcycle game experience out there. MotoGP fills the F1 2020 experience, and this is the Forza one. I do wish they would have carried over more features from MotoGP20 like 3 zone tire wear, engineers to set up the bike if you don't know how to tune and more options for riding styles. I get why they didn't do it, but it's what I really enjoyed in GP20. Tuning also really helps once you figure it out to make the bikes steer better/suit your style. Endurance races are VERY fun, if it's what you are into.

The Pros:
-It looks much better than Ride 3
-I prefer the physics over the Ride 3 one (although, I like the braking in GP20 more, it's still a little "wooden")
-Available bikes are fun and do feel like they have a little character to them when compared to each other
-Tire choices (S/M/H)
-Multiplayer is much more stable compared to previous titles, close racing is now possible
-Editor is fun (finally shared stickers are back)
-Added gamemodes + weather and day cycles
-Track list is decent, with more tracks coming (hopefully free DLC)

The Cons:
-Earning money is slow, 5 euro DLC to what should be the normal earning rate
-Bugs/glitches and an AI that can be a pain at times, the difficulty balancing with the AI slowing down on straights isn't great.
-Bike list feels lacking in many areas
-Steep learning curve will keep new players itching for the refund button
-Some bikes ride horrible for no reason (see: every MV Agusta F4, Yamaha R1/M and more)
-Sound on some bikes is underwhelming
-Rear brake is almost useless, and very difficult to get working right
-Difficulty system with AI isn't great, see leader bugger off whilst rest of pack is in slow motion
-Upgrading system was dumbed down

This game isn't for everyone, it caters to those that know how bikes work and does very little to help the new guy get into bikes, that said, it wouldn't be as good if it was styled like an NFS game. It has done some of the homework to improve on previous titles, and the final piece is a fun game, if you are into it in the first place. It is the strongest Ride game available, and easier to sit down with than GP20 (and previous titles).

For me, it is the best motorcycle experience available on a digital system (compared to titles like Ride 2/3, Isle of Man TT 2, MotoGP20).

Update:
A lot of the critique I see for this game revolves around the crude tutorial. Whilst I agree it is a very basic way of beating you with a sledgehammer until you understand the games physics and the way you play, I don't really see how it could be done better (except for the choice of bike, really should be something like an RC390 or R3, not an R6). If you look at "similar" titles like Forza Horizon, F1 2020, and other car racing games, they basically ask what difficulty settings you want (if even that) and then throw you into a race as introduction. FH4 (and other Horizon titles) straight up throw you into a Lamborghini of the faster kind and says "race to the festival, good luck!". The difference, and source of "annoyance" with Ride 4's intro, is that instead of crashing into a tree, backing up, and getting going again, Ride requires you to actually learn how to handle the game, before it throws you into the races, and the constant falling off invites a way of "the game is against me progressing" and frustration.

Apart from changing the learner bike (and maybe track, Tsukuba is kinda technical, short version of Brands Hatch would be better), this is really the only way to learn the games handling model. It even lets you have tools to make it easier (3 or 4 settings of physics to begin with, ABS, Auto gears etc.). is it crude? Yes. But do you remember when you started learning to drive a car? You can't really slow down a racing game like you can a shooter to practise targeting, standing still and turning doesn't work here. The game isn't for everyone, but just like any other game, you walk before you run in this one as well, and I do not see people criticising Forza because "I haven't tried a racing game before, it's too difficult and I keep crashing". Neither do people jump into CoD and do 360 noscopes first try (is that still cool, I don't play those games anymore?).

Starting off, I am myself a motorcycle rider that do a lot of track riding, and my hope going into this game was more looking for a Forza Horizon styled experience (without the open world) more than a NFS one. Is the game good? Yes, if it is your particular kink. The game is unforgiving, it's got glitches/bugs and AI that can ruin your race. But when it doesn't do something stupid, it's my favourite motorcycle game experience out there. MotoGP fills the F1 2020 experience, and this is the Forza one. I do wish they would have carried over more features from MotoGP20 like 3 zone tire wear, engineers to set up the bike if you don't know how to tune and more options for riding styles. I get why they didn't do it, but it's what I really enjoyed in GP20. Tuning also really helps once you figure it out to make the bikes steer better/suit your style. Endurance races are VERY fun, if it's what you are into. The Pros: -It looks much better than Ride 3 -I prefer the physics over the Ride 3 one (although, I like the braking in GP20 more, it's still a little "wooden") -Available bikes are fun and do feel like they have a little character to them when compared to each other -Tire choices (S/M/H) -Multiplayer is much more stable compared to previous titles, close racing is now possible -Editor is fun (finally shared stickers are back) -Added gamemodes + weather and day cycles -Track list is decent, with more tracks coming (hopefully free DLC) The Cons: -Earning money is slow, 5 euro DLC to what should be the normal earning rate -Bugs/glitches and an AI that can be a pain at times, the difficulty balancing with the AI slowing down on straights isn't great. -Bike list feels lacking in many areas -Steep learning curve will keep new players itching for the refund button -Some bikes ride horrible for no reason (see: every MV Agusta F4, Yamaha R1/M and more) -Sound on some bikes is underwhelming -Rear brake is almost useless, and very difficult to get working right -Difficulty system with AI isn't great, see leader bugger off whilst rest of pack is in slow motion -Upgrading system was dumbed down This game isn't for everyone, it caters to those that know how bikes work and does very little to help the new guy get into bikes, that said, it wouldn't be as good if it was styled like an NFS game. It has done some of the homework to improve on previous titles, and the final piece is a fun game, if you are into it in the first place. It is the strongest Ride game available, and easier to sit down with than GP20 (and previous titles). For me, it is the best motorcycle experience available on a digital system (compared to titles like Ride 2/3, Isle of Man TT 2, MotoGP20). Update: A lot of the critique I see for this game revolves around the crude tutorial. Whilst I agree it is a very basic way of beating you with a sledgehammer until you understand the games physics and the way you play, I don't really see how it could be done better (except for the choice of bike, really should be something like an RC390 or R3, not an R6). If you look at "similar" titles like Forza Horizon, F1 2020, and other car racing games, they basically ask what difficulty settings you want (if even that) and then throw you into a race as introduction. FH4 (and other Horizon titles) straight up throw you into a Lamborghini of the faster kind and says "race to the festival, good luck!". The difference, and source of "annoyance" with Ride 4's intro, is that instead of crashing into a tree, backing up, and getting going again, Ride requires you to actually learn how to handle the game, before it throws you into the races, and the constant falling off invites a way of "the game is against me progressing" and frustration. Apart from changing the learner bike (and maybe track, Tsukuba is kinda technical, short version of Brands Hatch would be better), this is really the only way to learn the games handling model. It even lets you have tools to make it easier (3 or 4 settings of physics to begin with, ABS, Auto gears etc.). is it crude? Yes. But do you remember when you started learning to drive a car? You can't really slow down a racing game like you can a shooter to practise targeting, standing still and turning doesn't work here. The game isn't for everyone, but just like any other game, you walk before you run in this one as well, and I do not see people criticising Forza because "I haven't tried a racing game before, it's too difficult and I keep crashing". Neither do people jump into CoD and do 360 noscopes first try (is that still cool, I don't play those games anymore?).