Platforms: PC (version reviewed), Xbox Series
Genre: Racing, Open World, Car Collection, Drive Sim

Xbox’s big racing game series Forza Horizon have made so much headway and standardised a good number of racing game features that it’s really hard to go back to the good old days of arcade and/or hardcore simulation-style racing. In fact, Forza Horizon 3,  4, and 5 were so impactful and creative with their revisions and setting that they more or less replaced Xbox’s previous racing flagship first-party title Forza Motorsports.

Times and games industry context sure have changed between the last game in 2021 and right now in 2026. But the need for speed still remains. Even if you can’t bill it as an Xbox exclusive anymore, there’s a lot of that DNA and feel emanating from this year’s Forza Horizon 6. You may feel a slight deja vu at first, but believe me when I say this is one epic racing game you need to buy this year regardless of whether you’re on PC, Xbox, or PlayStation 5 (later in 2026).

Whoah, Crash Into The Rolling Morning…

Forza Horizon 6’s biggest racing experience appeal is its new setting: the whole of Japan, all modified in-game to be one interconnecting race course full of street racing, dirt racing, cross country driving, snow-crashing racing, and all sorts of speedster activities one does with super-fast cars. Even your starting vehicles when you play the game for the first time are pretty generous: B-class cars that work either for street racing/drifting, or off-road shenanigans. The game’s structure has you racing a good amount of competitions to qualify for new Festival Showcase races, then you complete these to get your Wristband to unlock new areas, new races, and higher tiers of cars and car-modding. The story is more or less about racing tourists appreciating Japan while tearing up its roads and streets during your racing Festivals hijinxes, so it’s simple enough to not distract you from Forza Horizon 6’s biggest hook: open-world racing and car collecting at your own controlled triple-A-dressed-up pace.

If this is your first time playing a Forza Horizon game, you’ll be amazed as to how much time you can spend in just doing races, exploring the countryside and towns, and just speeding around recklessly with whatever fast car you score. You’ll be able to chain points in and out of competitions to earn Car Points (CP), either to mod your existing cars or just get new ones. There are even Treasure Cars to find all across Japan; just study the picture you’re given and then scour the region it’s in to find it. It’s a lovely spot of scavenger hunting that I love when taking breaks in-between lap-racing on streets or on mounds of dirt tracks. And to say that this sequel’s car collection is expansive is an understatement: given that a lot of the noteworthy fast cars & iconic automobiles are from Japan, it’s clear as day that the spotlight goes to Nissan, Toyota, Honda, and Mitsubishi’s historical lineup. I can’t tell you each model’s name, but I can tell you how distinctive and trend-setting each car is based on the year they’re manufactured.

The weather system that was prevalent in parts 4 and 5 are done up in full force here; courses with snow and rain will give you more trouble on the track you’re on when compared to racing on a sunny day. You are given the option to tweak your cars before each race, so at least you have a fighting chance. When all else fails, you can tweak the difficulty to your setting so you can either make each race you’re in a breeze or just frickin’ tough. Assuming you’re staying online, you can challenge random Drivatars (either random online players or your pals) to one-off races just for kicks, as they’re AI-tuned to their owner’s skill level. Turning off braking and steering assists in a race (or even the option to rewind parts of a race) makes a whole ton of difference that even stubborn Gran Turismo fans may want to switch camps to see how the grass is growing. And I can honestly tell you that it’s a healthy shade of green.

In fact, I actually appreciate how tough the last few races leading up to the final few Festival Showcases are. These races demand you ace all its challenges near perfectly, meaning all your driving around and open-world shenanigans had to amount to something. It’s not so much a huge difficulty spike as it is a wake-up call to take your best tweaked car and break that challenge board. The actual Festival Showcases though? Well, they’re more spectacles of style than actual challenges. They’re fun, sure, but the real races are the ones leading up to these party favours that just celebrate the lovely backdrop and culture of Japan, be it anime culture or street racing hardcoreness.

And I must say: Playground Games outdid themselves in the art direction and fidelity department. Even on medium settings on your PC, the game still impresses with its optimization and settings, while those with 4K & 60fps-able setups will languish in the raytracing and detailing on tap in each different car and regions they’re speeding in.

Flash, I’m In The Coolest Driver’s High…

Simply put, Forza Horizon 6 does what a open-world racing game sequel is supposed to do and then some: amplify its core gameplay hook while just delivering new areas and driving maps, offering a fresh perspective amidst the familiar open-world racing established by the series. The setting of Japan is just amazing and breathtaking, its multitude of racing activities and open-world challenges are bountiful and expansive, and the cars just control great once you realize how much vast options you have in tweaking them.

The difficulty can be easy or Gran Turismo-levels of try-hard challenging depending on what you want, but really it’s your Horizon Festival experience as you see fit. You’re the one paying US$60 for this game, so you make your own challenges, right?

In fact, the biggest takeaway is pondering on the franchise’s future right after spending about 20 or so hours with part 6. The next entry, which would be years from now, will be tough to figure out for developers Playground Games, because they’ve already exhausted all possible new ideas for a Forza Horizon entry in this iteration. That’s a problem for another time, but for now, this sixth game is open-world frenetic racing and drifting at its peak performance.

Pros

• Beautiful graphics & location; Japan is made unique & a standout area for a racing festival setting.
• Loads of racing and exploration, with tons of cars and secrets to collect and uncover.
• Adjustable difficulty on the fly.
• Fun and challenging courses made more interesting with a weather system.
• Big roster of cars that highlight their decade & type.

Cons

• New Horizon Showcase races are more style over substance.
• Late-game grind for final Showcases can get tedious.

Final Score: 90/100

Review copy provided by publisher.