Forza Horizon 6 review: racing across Japan!

Simon Balissat

14.5.2026

Translation: Patrik Stainbrook

Pictures: Simon Balissat

Brand-new racer Forza Horizon 6 is set in Japan, a country fans have been hoping would host the event for years. The pressure was immense, yet the developers really delivered.

A few years ago, I spent a couple of weeks volunteering on an olive farm in rural Japan. I was joined there by a young car-obsessed French fellow. «Simon, look! A Toyota Supra A80! And there, a Skyline R33!». He’d say this whenever he saw cars for sale parked on the side of the road, advertised with colourful flags. I often thought of him while testing Forza Horizon 6 – that’s how realistic this version of Japan looks, complete with brightly advertised used cars lining the streets.

Playground Games has more than proven its ability to create realistic worlds. Most recently, Australia, the United Kingdom and Mexico hosted the Horizon festival. Beautiful worlds certainly, but very sterile and tidy. They felt like the set for a promotional video by the local tourism board. «Visit Mexico! We have a few pyramids, an ancient city with colourful buildings, a canyon, a volcano and a desert. And here you’ll find a few plastic chairs under a parasol.» It’s all incredibly beautiful to look at, but it also seems eerie and soulless.

These worlds are built around their games, not the games around the world.

But here in Japan, for the first time, I feel that the world and the game go hand in hand, a symbiosis; the world’s always been there, just waiting for the game. The streets are still deserted in Horizon 6, as if people were sheltering from a pandemic spread through exhaust fumes and tyre rubber. After all, pedestrians and racecars just don’t mix.

Of art and decay

So, I have free rein to explore this miniature Japan, which looks realistic precisely because it isn’t glossy and polished. Through the narrow alleys of Tokyo, boxes are piled up in front of restaurants. A wildlife fence along the roadside is streaked with red rust. And in the front yard of one house, there’s a pile of gravel covered with a tarp – they’re in the process of replacing the pavement.

Of all places, Japan – often touted in travel guides as the cleanest country on Earth – experiences this chaos on a smaller scale.

The journey is the destination

And yet, the core gameplay is almost identical to that of all other Horizon titles.

I participate in races on asphalt, gravel and rough terrain. The more events I complete, the more new ones I unlock. The story’s so clumsy and generic that I’ve almost forgotten it already: I’ve arrived in Japan as a tourist and want to snatch the legendary golden wristband by winning at the Horizon Festival. It’ll grant me access to Legend Island, a place exclusively reserved for the fastest drivers.

If you’ve been playing Horizon games for a while, listen up: the wristband system from the first two games is making a comeback. As a nobody, I start with a yellow one, which only allows me to compete in races with the slowest cars. After I complete races and other events, such as speed traps or drift sections, I earn points and unlock new wristbands. With a total of six colours, I work my way up from class to class. As is typical for Horizon, there are supercars in my garage right from the start, and I can drive them through the open world as well. But to get the next wristband, I have to participate in events with lower vehicle classes. So sometimes, I have no choice but to show up in the family car, since my Ferrari’s a few classes too high.

The world’s my oyster – almost too much so

Still, these hypercars aren’t just sitting around gathering dust in the garage. In Horizon 6, I can earn Discover Japan points across an additional progression tree. Instead of wristbands, I get stamps. The events also vary: street races and one-on-one races across mountain passes – known as Touge battles – earn Discover Japan points. Same goes for every street I discover and every mascot I drive past. The more stamps I collect in my virtual booklet, the more new homes, barn finds (rare cars hidden away in sheds) and other events I unlock.

It takes me some time to get used to this dual system. It’s not always entirely clear why stunt jumps now earn points for the wristband, while running over mascots earns points for the stamp book. And there’s still XP and CR for everything. I can use CR to buy cars and upgrade them. Even after twenty hours of gameplay, I still don’t understand what XP is all about. At the very least, they make my Start menu look like my email inbox: notifications everywhere.

And yes, it was quite a grind before I finally earned that golden bracelet. Mainly because the online component didn’t work during my review period. There are plenty of points to be earned there.

Daily dopamine dump

The fact that I stuck with it anyway is thanks to the events. The thrill of racking up points is only as good as the events themselves. Japan as a setting is overused in media, not to mention a bit cliché. The Fast and the Furious has been to Tokyo, as has a young Jeremy Clarkson, before Top Gear brought him fame. Initial D made Touge racing famous in a cult anime, but arthouse films like Drive My Car showcase Japan’s love for cars just as well. Not to mention all those games that, for the past quarter-century, have simulated every conceivable form of motorsport, from drifting to highway racing and Touge. Living up to these standards seems like an almost impossible task, yet Forza Horizon 6 actually manages to pull it off.

I’ve run too many laps on the Tokyo R246 in Gran Turismo, raced on the Shuto Expressway in the Assetto Corsa mod too often and messed up the Scandi Flick in a virtual rally countless times, sending me straight into a ditch.

And yet, racing across the Rainbow Bridge at night into oncoming traffic is just as exhilarating as channelling my inner Takumi Fujiwara and tearing down a mountain pass in the iconic AE86 – just like in Initial D. It all fits together perfectly! And it doesn’t always have to be a speed thing: leisurely exploring rural Japan in a classic car and taking every side street is just as wonderful.

Cross-country races are the only ones that don’t really appeal to me. The SUVs needed for them are too slow, and those buggies are too unpredictable. Even in a video game, cars driven by rich toffs taking their kids to private school aren’t fun to race with. The same applies to buggies. They’re for divorced dads who don’t see their kids often enough and forget to pay child support.

Loads of cars, with some noteworthy exceptions

Otherwise, the selection of cars in Forza Horizon 6 is excellent: all the major brands are included, and there’s a clear focus on Japan. The Lancer, NSX, Skyline and Supra are available in various models, but I can also add exotic cars like the Toyota Crown and the Nissan S-Cargo to my garage. It’s a shame, though, that there are still some notable absences, such as Suzuki.

Escudo Pikes Peak Edition anyone?

As is typical for Forza, cars handle very differently here. Rear-wheel-drive vehicles tend to oversteer, better suited for drifting. Cars with massive spoilers hug the road as if their tyres were dipped in honey.

If you’re expecting a simulator, you’ve come to the wrong place. The controls are as inviting as a Shiba Inu. I can speed along without driver-assistance features like traction control or ABS. Only the most overpowered cars are nearly impossible to control without these aids. One nice perk here: turning off driving aids earns you more prize money, since it makes races harder to win.

Winning takes a bit of luck

Speaking of winning, that’s a thing in itself. Forza Horizon 6 suffers from the same issue that plagues all racing games offering a massive selection of cars (over 600) and tracks (over 100). The difficulty level randomly changes wildly. Sometimes I win three races on Expert, then I lose three more on the lower Very Experienced level. This is despite the fact that opposing vehicles are in exactly the same class and I’ve perfectly optimised my tuning settings like gear ratios, aerodynamics and suspension for every race. Often, my only option is to switch cars or adjust the difficulty to stand a chance.

Online mode with matchmaking should be better here, but unfortunately I haven’t been able to test it yet.

Breathtaking performance

As beautiful as the world of Horizon 6 is, the game runs smooth as butter on my high-end gaming PC. Handhelds like the ROG Xbox Ally X are a bit trickier. Everything usually runs well enough, but I occasionally have to deal with lag.

Playground Games also delivers when it comes to sound. Turbochargers whistle, misfires pop and engines purr – a real joy. A beautifully curated selection of radio stations provides a soundtrack ranging from alternative to classical music. Luckily, you can turn off the commentary. Those motivational messages, on the level of an E-league youth soccer coach («Give it some welly if you want to win!») are unbearable, even for a second. The only bit that works is the J-Pop channel, since it’s in Japanese. Still, their shouts are just as basic: «Gambatte, gambatte!»

A masterpiece

After more than twenty hours, I’m still merely scratching the surface of Forza Horizon 6. Much of what currently feels like just a side dish will only truly come to life thanks to the community after the release. For example, I’ll be able to build my own race track on my property, have food delivered, play the slot machine, take photos and show off my car at meets under the highway overpass. Not to mention the multiplayer, which will offer dozens of additional events and modes I haven’t discovered yet.

Yet even as it stands, Forza Horizon 6 is the most sophisticated and beautiful instalment in the series to date – from start to finish. This miniature Tokyo is just the right size, with plenty of nooks and crannies to explore without wearing me out. The mountain region, including a year-round ski slope, is the perfect change of pace when I just want to cruise down a hill. Forests, meadows, gravel roads. Tiny fishing villages, race tracks, temples, airfields, a stadium… There’s so much to discover and so much fun to be had in virtual Japan. And then there are the seasons – so far, I’ve only experienced spring with its cherry blossoms and summer with its lush meadows.

I never really got that sense of childlike curiosity while playing Forza Horizon 5. The world felt too monotonous, everything around me too lifeless. Sure, as a prototypical weeb, I’m very much in the target demographic. And yet, I can still say this with confidence: Forza Horizon 6 is a masterpiece in every respect.

Forza Horizon 6 will be released on 19 May for PC and Xbox. Microsoft sent us a review copy.

In a nutshell

Forza in Japan – the wait was worth it

If you’ve ever enjoyed a Forza Horizon game, go ahead and buy Horizon 6 now. It’s a work of art across the board, unlike anything that’s come before it. There’s no new formula; it doesn’t reinvent the wheel. But Horizon 6 doesn’t need reinventing. All it needs is to compile the best features from the last five games, plus a world that feels more real than ever before. Every second in the virtual playground of Japan is breathtaking. Every mile I cover in my cars is pure fun, pure adrenaline or pure relaxation. Simply put, it’s a masterpiece for anyone who loves cars and Japan.

Pro

• An incredibly detailed world
• Over 600 cars with various upgrades
• Well-paced progression
• Stunning graphics
• Awesome sound
• Driving across Japan

Contra

• Story
• Inconsistent AI difficulty
• Microtransactions and multiple currencies

Video games

Microsoft Forza Horizon 6

Xbox Series X, DE

1

Simon Balissat

Teamleader Editorial

Simon.Balissat@digitecgalaxus.ch

When I flew the family nest over 15 years ago, I suddenly had to cook for myself. But it wasn’t long until this necessity became a virtue. Today, rattling those pots and pans is a fundamental part of my life. I’m a true foodie and devour everything from junk food to star-awarded cuisine. Literally. I eat way too fast. more

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