I'm not really sure how to start talking about this game.
I guess I'll start by saying that the only Forza games I've played are Horizon 1 and 5. I emulated 1, and then jumped to 5 because it was the only one on steam (sidenote, delisting games is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥). Maybe my opinion of this game would be less favorable had I played 2-4 first, because the biggest complaint I hear about 5 is that it doesn't make any meaningful improvements to the formula. It's just the same thing again with a new coat of paint, except it does some things worse than previous games. This could be 100% true. Hell, there are some things that I think Horizon 1 does better, like your progression through the festival and the general vibe. 5 feels very sanitized and simplified. You start at the top, you're showered with rewards, everyone calls you "superstar" constantly and feel like they're only there to hype you up. None of the attitude of the rivals in 1. Races are open to all performance classes and car types, so the game never pushes you to try new things. There's no sense of working your way towards anything; you just kinda pick whatever events you feel like doing until the whole festival is unlocked. It didn't help that I got the deluxe edition, so the game gave me a ton of high performance cars before I even did anything. I would even argue that the soundtrack in 1 is better, even though there are some bangers in 5.
But with all that said, I did still put 200 hours into the game, so clearly they did SOMETHING right. I think what I've concluded is that while it may not have any standout features, it isn't really bad at any of the things you can do. Racing is still fun. Cars control very nicely, and there's a large selection of cool cars to get. Taking a drive around the map is very nice. EventLab is full of cool ♥♥♥♥ that other people have made. I don't know, it's just fun. It's kinda become my comfort game.
So if you're a diehard forza fan, I totally see how it could be disappointing. But if you're not and you just want a quality open world racing game to sink some time into, go for it. Unless Horizon 6 is better. I wouldn't know, I haven't played it yet.
