JDM: Ph4ntom Driver Announced For Steam With Combat Racing In A Yokai-Ruled Prefecture
A planned expansion for JDM: Japanese Drift Master instead became its own title, which is where the added combat and fantasy elements came from.
Reporting from 3 sources: Automaton, Denfaminicogamer, Game Spark.
Gaming Factory opened the Steam store page for JDM: Ph4ntom Driver on October 15. The arcade racing game is set in Guntama Prefecture, a fictional region ruled by oni and yokai, where the car itself is the weapon. It began as an expansion for JDM: Japanese Drift Master and became a separate title with more action and fantasy. Japanese is supported, the release date and price are undecided, and a multiplayer mode is planned at release.
The store page went up on October 15, with Japanese listed among the supported languages. Release date and price are undecided, and Gaming Factory plans a multiplayer mode at release.
Play is built around the car rather than mounted weapons. Players charge enemies at speed, drift, and boost at the same time, and the pitch is that survival depends on keeping the car moving, finding allies, and eventually facing the oni king Shodon Doji. Exploring the open world yields new machines and parts, drawn as original designs inspired by JDM: Japanese Drift Master and fitted to the setting.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 3 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.