The Forza franchise started in 2005 for the original Xbox as a direct competitor to PlayStation’s Gran Turismo series. The Xbox needed a realistic racing simulator, and eight games were released for that franchise.
However, in 2012, another Forza series was released to cater to more casual gamers out there. Developer Playground Games released the first Forza Horizon game for the Xbox 360, and the series arguably became bigger and more popular than the Forza Motorsport franchise.
In Forza Horizon’s history, the series has visited the USA, France, Australia, the UK, and Mexico. Well, Forza Horizon 6 is here for PC and Xbox Series X/S, and it’s the first time the franchise is set in the popular country of Japan.
Many gamers wanted a Forza Horizon game set in Japan thanks to the country’s racing and drift culture. Drifting became popular thanks to the anime/manga Initial D, as well as the 2006 release of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.
If you have played any other Forza Horizon game in the past, Forza Horizon 6 is similar in a lot of ways, but there are some new additions and improvements in the new game. For one thing, the game looks phenomenal on Xbox Series X, with two graphical settings available for gamers.
For gamers who value visual fidelity, you will want to set the game to Quality Mode. In Quality Mode, the game runs at a slower 30fps, but it has a native 4K resolution with more details and better lighting effects.
For anyone who values speed, you will want to set the game to Performance Mode. The game is upscaled to a 4K resolution, but the game runs at a buttery smooth 60fps. Performance mode is the way I love to play because it gives the game a better sense of speed when you’re driving fast across Japan’s beautiful landscape.
In terms of gameplay, the way the game is set up should be familiar to all Forza Horizon veterans out there. The map is littered with tons of races, stunt challenges, unique special events, and much more.
Your goal is to complete as many challenges and races as possible in order for you to unlock more Horizon events around the map. Most events are races that include street races, circuit races, rally races, drag races, time attack, and even touge racing events.
Touge racing events are a new addition to Forza Horizon 6 because this is a race that is unique to the country of Japan. It’s a 1-on-1 race where you have to drive through the windy mountain roads of Japan’s countryside.
If you are a fan of Initial D and Tokyo Drift, you’ll know touge races are very intense because one wrong move means your car might drive over a cliff! Thankfully, Forza Horizon 6 still has the generous rewind feature, so you can undo any wrong move you might make during a race.
Not to mention, the game has lots of drifting events for you drift fanatics out there. There is even a story mode in the game where you drift on Mount Haruna using the famous Toyota AE86 from the Initial D series! That was by far my favourite part of playing Forza Horizon 6.
Outside of Japan-centric races, lots of other events are available for you to play in Forza Horizon 6. Some of the returning stunt events include trailblazer, drift zones, speed traps, and my favourite danger sign jumps. The latter requires you to use your chosen car to jump on a ramp and travel as far as possible. They’re arguably the most popular stunt events in all of the Forza Horizon video games!
Some of the other unique special events in Forza Horizon 6 are cool to play as well. I don’t want to spoil too much in this review, but there is one special event where you have to race against a giant robot that looks like a Gundam mech!
Outside of single-player events, there are multiplayer events that you can do, too. This can include the aforementioned touge races, normal races, or even co-op events where you have to do stunts and challenges.
For any completionists out there, Forza Horizon 6 still has lots of billboard signs you have to break. Not only that, but Playground Games has also added mascots that you can break apart as well. There are like 200 mascots and 200 billboards for you to break, so it will take a long time to get them all!
Forza Horizon 6 is a near-perfect game, and I don’t think I can name many faults with it. The only negative thing I can say about the game is that it feels very familiar to other games in the series. Aside from touge races and time attack, there aren’t many other new race events.
Forza Horizon 6: Aside from the lack of new events, Forza Horizon 6 is still a very great game. It might be my second favourite Forza Horizon game of all time, right behind Forza Horizon 3, because that game was set in Australia. If you live Forza Horizon games, you'd better go out and buy this game ASAP. – jbl316
10/10
