Forza Horizon 6

Fans have been begging for years for Playground Games to finally set a new Horizon game in Japan and it's not hard to see why. Just like with the Assassin's Creed series, which also saw a persistent desire for a Japanese chapter, "the land of the rising sun" is dripping with instantly recognisable iconography and exudes culture, religion, and tradition that are known throughout the world.

And now Forza Horizon 6 is here, and it's good. It's yet another good Forza Horizon game, and at times it's actually really good. But whilst Japan is undoubtedly an exciting backdrop for adrenaline-pumping arcade racing, it feels as though the series might, for the first time, be a little unsure of where exactly it's heading. You can feel it, both in the way they've chosen to bring Japan to life, and also in the way this structure has gradually started to creak a little under the weight of the art of repetition.

It is very, very important to emphasise that even though Playground isn't reinventing the wheel, or deviating from the Horizon series' physical, structural, or mechanical framework, Forza Horizon 6 still feels good thoroughly good to play. That sets the bar quite high here. If the snapshot is decidedly excellent, and the surrounding systems have been honed to perfection over a sufficient number of iterations, then those who have enjoyed what Playground has served up across the five previous instalments will find they like what they're served here.

It's all here: a Horizon Festival, distinct, varied race types, over 550 cars recreated down to the smallest detail, a sea of progression paths, Barn Finds, collectables, the whole shebang. There are small changes here and there, of course, such as the addition of area-specific mascots to find and destroy, but broadly speaking, the experience of playing Forza Horizon 6 feels much the same as playing Horizon 5, or even 4. And whilst this could easily be seen as a complaint, or even a source of frustration, there remains a fundamental joy in picking up a game that you already know works not just satisfactorily, but brilliantly, and seeing your expectations met.

But at the same time, it's not quite that simple, is it? Because as the number at the end increases, expectations are remixed at the same time. What barely worked last time needs to work better, and at the same time, the developers must find ways to adapt or redefine the content in such a way that it once again feels fresh.

Horizon 6's very basic, fundamental gameplay structure is brilliant, best-in-class even, but Playground has failed to introduce meaningful updates or "remixes" of the content, or the way it is delivered and experienced, and at the same time I'm not entirely sure if this version of Japan was exactly what I'd hoped for, although opinions will naturally be divided on that aspect in particular.

Right, so now Horizon Festival has reached Japan, and let's not waste a single sentence on the flimsy narrative setup, where you and your "friends" Mei and Jordan collectively dream of becoming the festival's undisputed centre of attention. The game even speaks to you, quite often too, and you'd be well advised to ignore it all. Whether it's "just the way it is", or whether you secretly wish that if the game insists on having characters who absolutely must speak at all, then perhaps they could tell us something other than the same old drivel about "being free" whilst utterly demolishing Japanese temples and causing billions of pounds' worth of property damage, but I'll leave that up to you. Structurally, however, the idea is the same. You complete races that earn you points, and these points unlock key events that mark the acquisition of a new wristband. The goal is to get all the wristbands, and that's it. That's fine enough, as such.

These events are the fairly typical selection. You have Cross Country, Circuits, Street Racing, Dirt Racing, and Japanese Touge drift races, mixed with Speed Traps, Drift Zones, and Trailblazers. Combined with the aforementioned Barn Finds, Horizon Chapters (short standalone stories featuring the most forgettable characters you'll ever meet), and collectables, there's, as always, plenty to get stuck into, and each of these races is designed and put together with an eye for detail.

But it's also almost exactly the same selection you've experienced time-and-time again, and only in very minor ways is this content pack actually adapted to the location itself. You drive around Playground's interpretation of Japan, yes, but in only a few places is the actual presentation distinctly Japanese - the user interface is even virtually identical. I gave Forza Horizon 5 a solid 9 because it feels like the absolute culmination of what this specific formula could achieve, and I noted in that very review that it feels like a conclusion, that Playground Games couldn't squeeze any more novelty out of this specific way of designing and delivering content. Unfortunately, it's clear from Forza Horizon 6 that I was right. This feels like a sort of Japanese-inspired bonus track, or, to put it bluntly, like DLC.

"BUT", you might be thinking, what about Japan? Well, Japan is beautiful here, no doubt about it. There is a huge variety in this setting, allowing you, relatively quickly, to travel from the Hokkaido-inspired thick, snow-covered ski slopes to the almost tropical Nangan. Drifting through cherry blossoms is a delight; experiencing parts of Tokyo through the windscreen of these gorgeous cars is wonderful; seeing Japanese architecture and iconography brought to life through Playground's ForzaTech graphics engine at 60fps is stunning. And the new local radio station, Gacha City Radio, featuring artists such as Creepy Nuts and Ado, is a welcome addition.

But there are simply problems here. First and foremost, Japan is shaped just as much by the people who live in the country as by nature and architecture, and Forza Horizon 6 shows only sparse crowds of people, even in Tokyo. This makes sense to some extent when you're racing through at 130 kilometres per hour, even across Shibuya Crossing, but whereas Mexico or the English moors are known for their landscapes, Japan is just as distinctive because of the culture people create, and that aspect is decidedly missing. As you drive over Shibuya Crossing in the game's prologue, I had to stop because, without people in that iconic pedestrian crossing, it lacked virtually all impact. That's how much of Tokyo is, as the landmarks are there but it comes across as a strange ghost town.

Furthermore, this is above all a realistic rendering of the country and there are surely some who will welcome that. But conversely, it also means that the majority of this map consists of dark green forest and brown hills and roads. It doesn't really matter, as such, but this could have been an aspect where a slightly more caricatured, perhaps colour-manipulated approach might have given the game a breath of fresh air? I'm not saying there should be chibi characters dancing around on the bonnet whilst you're driving, but so much of the map is neither Tokyo nor any of the other recognisable, iconic significant settings that set this fantastic country apart from every other on the planet. The point is, once again, that Japan represents a unique opportunity and a challenge, and although Playground presents beautiful scenery and realistic architecture, for technical and artistic reasons the game cannot give you an insight into the country's unique culture. And that's a shame.

And finally; there is a curious lack of variety, even compared to Forza Horizon 5. The races are far more restricted, and will dictate which cars you can take to each race, but more than that, I found only two Showcase-style races amongst the main Wristband Events; the rest felt like fairly ordinary races, even when they marked the transition to a new wristband. And you don't unlock distinct race types via the Horizon Festival as in Forza Horizon 5, as it's all one big homogeneous pool most of the time, and gone are the distinct Apex, Wilds, Rush, Street Race, and Baja scenes. The campaign structure Playground called "Horizon Adventure" in the fifth instalment is nowhere to be seen, and it's not entirely clear why. There is one race against a Gundam-like mech, and it's a fantastic glimpse of what a Forza Horizon game would be like if the game actively explored Japanese culture rather than just architecture and nature. But apart from that, as mentioned, you don't progressively unlock new "stages" with distinct race types, nor do you race to these new stages alongside all the other festival participants. New Wristband events are simply added without any fanfare.

Ouch, eh? There's not enough going on, and the setting that most people had been so looking forward to has been recreated in such a way that it all appears realistically grounded, but less distinctive as a result. That doesn't sound too good, does it? But it's important to return to, and emphasise, the aforementioned point; The Horizon games deliver an open-world arcade experience that no one else in the industry can hold a candle to. You won't find a competitor here that looks as good, sounds as good, is as generous with its content, or is as technically well-crafted as Forza Horizon 6. You simply won't. If you're craving more Horizon, you've probably already combed through Horizon 5 for all the content it has to offer, so there's no point in recommending that instead, is there?

No, the truth is more complex, and thankfully so. Horizon 6 disappointed me. Me, who has played all six instalments in the series. I feel some of the progress Horizon 5 introduced is missing; I don't think Playground are willing enough to experiment with everything from progression to UI design; and I don't think Japan comes across well as a setting here. But conversely, this, along with the last handful of Horizon games, is one of the best arcade racers you can find, based on everything this game predictably executes so masterfully. I therefore take the liberty of recommending Horizon 6 solely on the basis that it works as well as it does, although I must once again recommend that Playground Games really take their time to be more ambitious in the future.