There are very few game launches that still feel like an event. Those where you glance at the clock every fifteen minutes, convince yourself you should probably get some sleep, then immediately decide sleep can wait another hour. Last night was one of those nights.
Ever since Playground Games dropped that first trailer for Forza Horizon 6 months ago, I knew this one was going to be different. I even wrote here on the site about how, after years of players asking for it, the series was finally heading to Japan. As someone whose automotive taste have always been very eclectic, Forza Horizon was always a game I waited for with bated breath.
I grew up “an Euro guy”, not owning a single Japanese car until I was almost 30 (and having owned 14 vehicles by that time). I have also, however, been a dweeb ever since I can remember, to the point I can still name an embarrassingly large number of Pokémon, and knew every single car to feature in Initial D after watching the series multiple times. It was moving to New Zealand that brought me (even) closer to JDM car culture, given how ubiquitous these cars are here, especially in the circles I frequent. So now, after owning having had several JDM hero cars of my own, and with Japan being a direct flight away,
New Zealand, once again, benefitted from its time zone by being one of the first countries to cross the midnight line where the game became available and yes, of course I stayed up for it. Actually loading into the game for the very first time, with the release timer finally hitting zero, is something else entirely.
The second servers went live, I was there. The opening sequence alone told me Playground wasn’t messing around this time. If previous Horizon titles felt like beautiful postcards, this feels like stepping into an automotive fantasy that someone built specifically for people who grew up idolising Japanese car culture, like so many of us. The neon-lit city streets. The mountain roads. The narrow countryside lanes. The tunnels purposely scattered to show off the new sound engine through rev limiter abuse. It all feels tailored to anyone who has ever spent hours watching Mr. Tsuchiya do touge runs on YouTube or argue about wheel and bodykit choices online.
And as much as I enjoy the racing, Horizon has always been about the cars, and the scenery, and “the vibe”. And yes, the same dopey looking character and the sometimes cringey lines of voice acting are all there, but it’s a staple of the franchise at this point. As are the energy-drink-fueled events that work as a showcase of everything that’s new about the game.
Speaking about the cars, a thing I always do in Forza Horizon games is recreate the cars I owned in the past when they are available. Less than 4 hours in, I already had my MX-5, M2, Golf R, Integra, Megane RS, all sitting pretty in my garage, with a few more to come as credits roll in. And, of course, customisation was a big part of it all.
Thankfully, Playground seems to understand that better than ever this time around. I don’t seem to have unlocked much of it yet, but the trailers promise the customisation is deeper, tuning menus are more intuitive, and photo mode… well, let’s just say I already lost some amount of time there – it’s me after all.
Most importantly though, the car list finally feels like Japan is being treated properly. I had a big concern that, being a franchise that had only visited Western locations before, that we would be forced to drive Cadillacs, F-150s and other USDM cars through Japan’s narrow streets. The initial trailers started to ease this worry, and playing the game now, I would say it’s practically entirely mitigated. Yes, you can still drive a Tacoma if you want (as some Japanese people do themselves), but the fact you have so much proper JDM metal at your disposal shows localisation went deep.
As someone who joked months ago that I wanted to drive a Nissan S-Cargo through Akihabara, not a pickup truck through a rice field, I’m happy to report this game seems to get it. And that matters. Because Forza Horizon has always been brilliant at delivering spectacle, but this entry feels like it finally delivers authenticity alongside it. Of course, I’ve only scratched the surface. One late night session is nowhere near enough to see everything this world has to offer.
One specific note, for example, is the fact that there are so many places you can park up and make the car fit the environment. Be in a conbini, an empty parking lot or the much more frequent now gas stations, I cannot wait to have my personal cars I recreated joined by those of my two close friends that play the game so we can replicate digitally the Friday Night meet we attend every week – we only go drifting after one of these, however…
But first impressions matter. And after spending my first night with Forza Horizon 6, I can already say this… The hype was justified. I am still to find the places where the game studio innovated in this new installment, as it feels, sometimes, a little too familiar. But that’s fine, as FH6 is doubling down on what it always did very well, while bringing a highly desired locale and some important quality of life improvements.
Playground waited many years, and many Horizons to visit the land of the rising sun, and I think we’re all better for it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a mountain pass somewhere near virtual Osaka waiting for a slightly overbuilt Toyota GR86. And probably another very late night.
