I’m not a car fanatic, or even an enthusiast, but Forza Horizon 6 has transformed my heart into a 6 cylinders blood pumping, racing gamer. Is 6 cylinders too much? Probably. My heart would explode with that amount. Or possibly my whole circulatory system. Either way, Forza Horizon 6 is a delightful, mellow and energetic adventure through the beautiful landscape of Japan. I’ve played Forza Horizon 5 and 6. That’s as far as my experience goes with this franchise however, this new installment always brought me back for one more race, one more skill song, one more collectible. What makes Forza Horizon 6 special? Hopefully I’m able to put that into words on this review as I talk about this great game.

Forza Horizon 6 released on May 19th of 2026. Developed by Playground Games. The studio already has quite a lot of experience with this franchise as they’ve developed every single entry of it. Though I’ve only played 5 and 6, there are quite a few differences between these two releases. Noticeably the map. In Forza Horizon 5, the map took place in Mexico, and while it did have the flair and look of it, it didn’t embody it completely and to some degree it felt hollow, like a map of a familiar place but only on the surfaces. This was not the case for the new installment. I’ll dive into that later.

How do you play Forza Horizon 6? This is a racing exploration game. It has an open world in which you can roam around a quite considerable big map set in Japan. You are a new racer coming into the scene of the Horizon Festival. Through a short introduction to the racing tutorial, you do four or five obligatory races before dipping your toes into the big world. The tutorial has cinematic set pieces and cool landscape races that give you a glimpse into the stunning map of a fictionalized Japan. Once you complete the introduction you are free to explore however you want. You can head north to the snowy mountains or south to the beach and docks. You can go anywhere and explore around if you aren’t interested in racing other people or npcs right away, or even ever. You can do whatever you want. The best thing is there’s plenty to do in the map.

Though if you are reading this, it means you are interested in racing which Forza Horizon 6 has plenty of. There are 8 different styles of races. Each of these styles focuses on a different aspect either of specific cars or sections of the map. The main style is Road Racing which takes place on long highways and street cities. This has point-to-point sprints, requiring high grip and top speed. Another style of races is Street Racing which consists of illegal-style urban competitions, typically held at night in Tokyo, which prioritize agile handling and quick braking for tight corners.

Counter to races on nice pavement roads are Dirt Racing, Trail Races and Cross Country Racing; all three take place on unpaved roads, these can be some of the most cinematic or picturesque races as they take full advantage of the landscapes and terrain. These were some of my favorites to race on. While I’ve mentioned about long form or multi-lap races, Forza Horizon 6  also has one on one battles known as Touge Battles; straight-line acceleration on fixed strips called Drag Meets; or events focus on accumulating points through controlled oversteer which I call Fast and Furious Tokyo sections, but the game prefers them as Drift Zones; and solo timed laps on specific circuits clearly known as Time Attacks.

The game accommodates any style of race, you love the feel of drift as you play your Tokyo playlist inspired on the Fast and Furious movies then Drift Zones will be your favorite. Or if you prefer to drive for long distances and enjoy the fast moving and changing landscape, then Road Racing is your jam. There’s something for everyone in the game, and even once completing it, if you ranked first place, there are extra options to compete on individual tracks with your top speed, time or points against other players or just your friend group. While there are lots of styles and can be overwhelming, the game manages this by having the player unlock several packs of races through xp progression and completing previous packs of sections. So if you think you’ll get dumped a bunch of checkpoints on the map and not know what to do first. It all comes out to you gradually. 

Forza Horizon 6 uses a progression system through Horizon Festival wristbands. The progression system features 7 wristband colors that unlock progressively through the Horizon Festival campaign as you play through every style of race available. The first wristband color is Yellow and to advance you require 1,250 points. The sequence of colors after Yellow are Green, Blue, Pink, Orange, Purple, and culminating in the final Gold wristband. To get to this final spot you require 32,500 points. You don’t have to grind any race, no need to get top 3 or first place every time, but it will ask that you play almost  90% of races available, and even parts of the exploration department which I haven’t even talked about yet. Either way, in the racing department Forza Horizon 6 has a merry plenty to share.

Before I jump into the exploration side I have to also mention the difficulty of the game. While the game has an arcade aspect, you can still feel the pressure and intensity of racing through multiplayer or the NCPs of the game. I’m talking about you AlbertWCG and BowieKnife99! When I see you on the track again, I’m ramming you into the wall….! Apologies, out of character. When you get to play them, you’ll see where the emotion comes from. Rest assured, your races won’t be easy peasy with those two having a license. There will be tension, pressure and sweat dripped on each try to achieve first place on the higher difficulties. The challenge evokes something almost cinematic.

At the start of the review I mentioned the capacity on which the game allows you to do whatever you want, race or not race, it is all up to you. If you want, and can; you can exclusively explore the map and all its mysteries. Just as the game has an expansive catalog of races, there is an equal amount of exploration to do. There are several activities spread through the map to quell for your outdoor cravings. In this beautiful map of Japan exploration complements it brilliantly. Of the different activities to take part in, we have Discover Japan Points as the main hub. This is the core exploration progression system in Forza Horizon 6, where players earn Discover Japan Points by completing activities such as discovering landmarks, collectibles and photography challenges. This progression system is not the same as the wristbands. This utilizes color stamps. Same color levels, but focused on exploration activities.

The activities available to you are Day Trips which are guided exploration drives hosted by characters across regions such as Ito, Minamino, and Tokyo City. Moto Auto Zine focuses on  Photography missions where players capture cars in scenic locations, tied to the history of Japanese car magazines. Yuji’s Auto are garage and tuning activities involving finding, repairing, and tuning cars for parades in different regions. Tokyo City Food Delivery, which is the name of the activity you’ll imagine, you become a Grubhub driver. These are Delivery-based driving missions scattered across the area of Tokyo city. There is also an activity for those with Photography skills through the Photography Challenges which set you to specific landmark photos. Finally, there are collectibles, and plenty. We have the XP boards, these are across the whole map in different sections, up and below. You can stumble upon them or hunt them down. Or if you aren’t interested in basic, boring XP boards; There is also Regional Mascots, another type of collectible activity involving the discovery and destruction of regional mascot statues. Emphasis on destruction. These little fellas lay await for you to smash them in two or several pieces at full speed. I don’t know what it is but it gave me complete and utter satisfaction to hunt them down. Maybe it was their saddened, surprised faces after my attack, or maybe it was just the pure joy of breaking them apart. I’m still unsure, but it was glorious.

Just as you can take hours to enjoy the map with races there is a lot to do with exploration, and the best thing about it, it has a focus of history and information about the region set in. Some history never hurts, and for one I love to hear about Japan and its rich story of car culture. For example, did you know small Japanese vehicles known for their efficiency and compact urban driving are called Kei cars. Also in its own vision Japan created Honda Integra Type R: The DC2 Integra Type R as a car with a focus on reducing weight, improving chassis rigidity, and sharpening handling. It is remembered as a front-wheel-drive car that could compete with much more expensive sports cars.

Finally for my personal experience I got to rack up at least 80 hours on the game before I called it quits. Quite a lot of enjoyment from a game I played through Game Pass. However, its fun was so rich that it has left me wanting more. Part of me wants to purchase the game through Steam and invest in some racing equipment, steering wheel, pedals, brakes, the whole thing. It would be worth it. That’s how much I loved this game. I’m not a racing fan, from my whole backlog I’ve probably dabbled on some Need for Speed games back in Underground 2 and new titles, but none of them had taken my interest and turned into spending a bunch of money on a racing rig. 

It was likely the beautiful look of the map, the depth and vividness of its regions. The differences in landscapes, the streets, highways, small towns, and night city. All of it was amazingly put together to make you feel excitement and exhilaration driving down roads on a place far in your imagination.

Should you play it? If you have Game Pass absolutely. If not, the game has already been in a small discount, still worth grabbing it. Now, if you are a fan of cars, and races, then this is a definite must play. 

About DHNY Badger