PlayStation player here. I remember enjoying Motorstorm Apocalypse, Split Second, and Blur. Burnout Paradise was great as well, and the Need For Speed games are hit-and-miss. I’m terrible at drifting (as a challenge or necessary) and prefer open world maps or interesting environments over traditional racetracks. Customizations and storylines are less important. I’ve done what I can with the latest Need For Speed (which was mostly okay) and Grid Legends (which was such a grind for trophies).
I’d like to find another Motorstorm Apocalypse or Split Second. Should I be looking at the Kart-like games? Are there other recommendations, or has the industry moved on from these classics?
An unusual suggestion for you: BeamNG.Drive. I wouldn’t call it a racing game per se, the actual “racing” part is kinda limited, but it’s got very realistic driving and crash physics, several different environments to race in (both track-like and open-world-like) and lots of opportunity for screwing around and modding. It’s a PC game, though, and requires a strong machine to pull off not just the graphics, but also the physics calculations.