When the game debuted without the weather effects that people gush over now, without replays, without photomode, and a broken online system, I'd say I can understand the 'soulless' comments. Just because you didn't agree with it doesn't mean it was an invalid opinion.
I completed it first before all the major patches arrived, and I couldn't actually pin what some of the reviewers meant by it lacking "soul". To me it felt like a lazy catch all complaint, that didn't so much mean anything specific, but was just used to imply the game lacked the kinds of things they looked for in racers, presumably things like being open world, having lots of fanfare, voice overs, a story or something of that nature. Like I said, even to this day I'm not sure what it means, because it was never specified. To me it's just poor writing when you have to guess what a reviewer means with a particular poignant overarching complaint.
If we take soul to mean personality, or atmosphere, thrill, feel, sensory impact etc, I can't think of many racers that match Driveclub. It is simply an audiovisual tour de force, and the sounds, graphics, environments, track designs, track additions like butterflies, range of foliage, views, vistas, balloons, crowds, potpourri, water sprinklers etc, the vehicular detailing, immense sense of speed, beautiful atmospherics and lighting, sunsets, dynamic clouds, changes in hues, day to night transitioning and all the rest, those are some of the kinds of things I assume would be referred to if ever using a term like "soul" to describe aspects of a racer, that evoke personality.
