I haven't played it much yet, but there are some immediately obvious annoyances. Obviously, the load times is one. The save scheme is another. If you change the options, it saves when you leave the options. If you do a time trial, it saves when you leave. I haven't gotten to any races yet, but I assume it would behave the same. It would be nicer to have a save item in the menu, or even making the save optional, instead of being forced to save.
I found the graphics passible, and, as with GT (and GT2 minus its slowdown and other problems), it looks very bad compared to GT3, but isn't an issue once I get into the gameplay. Nonetheless, of the 4 PS2 games I own, it's easily the one with the worst graphics.
The sound is really bad. The cars sound like wind-up toys, and the music is better left off, which, fortunately, is an option.
I'm going to keep playing, since the gameplay has elements that GT3 is weak at, such as more involved pit strategies, a field bigger than 6 cars, weather and time of day. However, GT3 (and GT and GT2) will definitely get more replay time.
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After playing some more, the load times are still extremely bad.  Some load time for tracks is understandable, but it's still extreme.  Having to wait through the load screen to go from the track to the race standings or the menus is not understandable.  Also, the "Race again?  Yes/No" menu misses the point, as it doesn't circumvent any of the loading.  The auto-save is annoying enough that I pull the save card out until I want to save my progress.
The racing itself is quite good, though.  The weather effects are pretty impressive during the race, the clouds rolling in, or the muted sun though the thinning clouds.  The rainy night racing isn't as well done, as the fake headlights do nothing to light up the road, so it means driving blind over certain segments of the tracks.  The replays have graphical glitches, particularly when it's rainy and foggy, but I've never noticed any such problems during the actual gameplay.  The chunky graphics, however, does affect the gameplay when on an unfamiliar track, as it's hard to tell whether the next turn will be a left or a right until it's too close to set up the correct line.
The normal mode AI is about as stupid as the GT3 AI.  I haven't tried the hard AI.
There is only rudimentary tuning, so there's nothing like the Formula GT in GT3, where each track needed different settings for success.  However, the downforce and tire grades can be changed in the pits, so the weather, tire wear, and fuel usage all factor into the racing strategy.
I haven't played it much yet, but there are some immediately obvious annoyances. Obviously, the load times is one. The save scheme is another. If you change the options, it saves when you leave the options. If you do a time trial, it saves when you leave. I haven't gotten to any races yet, but I assume it would behave the same. It would be nicer to have a save item in the menu, or even making the save optional, instead of being forced to save. I found the graphics passible, and, as with GT (and GT2 minus its slowdown and other problems), it looks very bad compared to GT3, but isn't an issue once I get into the gameplay. Nonetheless, of the 4 PS2 games I own, it's easily the one with the worst graphics. The sound is really bad. The cars sound like wind-up toys, and the music is better left off, which, fortunately, is an option. I'm going to keep playing, since the gameplay has elements that GT3 is weak at, such as more involved pit strategies, a field bigger than 6 cars, weather and time of day. However, GT3 (and GT and GT2) will definitely get more replay time. --
After playing some more, the load times are still extremely bad. Some load time for tracks is understandable, but it's still extreme. Having to wait through the load screen to go from the track to the race standings or the menus is not understandable. Also, the "Race again? Yes/No" menu misses the point, as it doesn't circumvent any of the loading. The auto-save is annoying enough that I pull the save card out until I want to save my progress. The racing itself is quite good, though. The weather effects are pretty impressive during the race, the clouds rolling in, or the muted sun though the thinning clouds. The rainy night racing isn't as well done, as the fake headlights do nothing to light up the road, so it means driving blind over certain segments of the tracks. The replays have graphical glitches, particularly when it's rainy and foggy, but I've never noticed any such problems during the actual gameplay. The chunky graphics, however, does affect the gameplay when on an unfamiliar track, as it's hard to tell whether the next turn will be a left or a right until it's too close to set up the correct line. The normal mode AI is about as stupid as the GT3 AI. I haven't tried the hard AI. There is only rudimentary tuning, so there's nothing like the Formula GT in GT3, where each track needed different settings for success. However, the downforce and tire grades can be changed in the pits, so the weather, tire wear, and fuel usage all factor into the racing strategy.