I wish I could give this a positive review, but I can't.
The game is fun, don't get me wrong.
But Forza Horizon 6 is, from top to bottom, a copy-paste cash grab.
Large portions of the game, from both UI/UX to gameplay to visuals, are identical or near to identical as Forza Horizon *3*, a game that released in 2016.
And thus it's no surprise that when driving around, especially in Tokyo, everything just feels bland and flat. Which for one of the most vibrant cities on the planet is almost an actual crime. Corrugated walls that should at minimum have lighting tricks applied, if not be properly fully modeled, are instead flat textures on flat models, without any lighting gimmicks other than simple shadows applied. Transitions between pavement and non pavement surfaces are clean, hard edges, the kind of texture transitions you'd see in the freaking *2000s*. Think about that. A game renowned for it's visual fidelity is using graphical standards from legitimately 25 years ago. I was TWELVE when this was the standard.
The cars don't even look THAT good, when comparing to other racing games. Asetto Corsa for example. iRacing. Automoblista 2. And given the pretty cars and their prettiness is one of the main selling points of the Forza series....
And somehow the game doesn't run smooth, despite needing so much in the way of graphical resources, while looking somehow worse than RDR2, a game that is 7-8 years old. Games like Subnautica 2, Black Flag Resynced, Halo Campaign Evolved, all look better, run smoother, and don't require me to turn settings down like in FH6. Granted, it's only 3 settings, and each only gets turned down one notch, but that's also helping to prove my point given which settings they are: both Ray Tracing options as well as Shaders. Turning each down one level from full has negligible impact on actual visual fidelity or overall look, but has MASSIVE impact on performance. That doesn't really make sense by itself, but given that in no other modern game with a reputation for intense visuals, do I have to adjust ANY settings, and it all runs butter smooth... FH6 is also the first and only game I've had to fiddle with anything in the Nvidia Control App to get it to run smooth, and it took a LOT of fiddling (partially because the devs would release 'fixes' that broke more than they fixed).
Then add that the devs intentionally made a broken in game economy, forcing players to resort to exploit farms to make the game feel properly rewarding, then nerfed those exploits to the point it affected the base economy and requiring an overhaul of the base payout system (that didn't really help much, just restored the old status quo), all the while putting out 'performance patches' that made the game run worse, still unwilling or unable to address the accuracy of challenge goals (eg. "Complete a Spec Race" actually requiring a win, not just a finish).
Pre rendered cutscenes are locked to 30fps. Just....why? In 2026, legitimately, BLOODY WHY is this still a thing??? Sure there may not be a lot of them and they're all pretty short but a) it's still just so jarring to go from 30 to 60, especially when some of the cutscenes are directed to be transitions between the scene and driving b) just...there's no excuse in 2026. 60fps has been the standard for so long, even consoles are capable of it now. Just....why?
Simply put, the game from top to bottom is lazy, partially broken, frustrating, prioritized/optimized for consoles from 2 generations ago, and ill-managed; and it seems clear at this point the Forza Horizon series is going to die a very slow death if they keep on this path.
At least the actual driving is fun?
