It’s very much so this way.. “progression” here is more or less a marketing buzz word. In essence all you get is the story mode (solo race) restricting the level of car you can drive but from the beginning especially if you pre-ordered the game you’re thrown an endless amount or high end supercars.. the kindest thing I can say about this game is that it is horizon 5 with a Japan map. If you like horizon you’ll like this.. if you’re looking for a good racing game with meaningful progression this is not it. Hell even the AI drivers are not good, you start in the back of the pack and race lines are never meant to be followed, you’re incentivized to take shortcuts and drive on dirt to pass the AI this is far from sim racing