Forza Horizon 6 Review
- Matthew Rondina
- 14 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Forza Horizon 6 hits full throttle in Japan with stunning visuals and thrilling open-world racing, my full review.
Forza Horizon 6 has arrived with spectacular visuals, incredible driving, deep customization, and the most exciting open world the franchise has ever had. Developer Playground Games takes the Horizon Festival to Japan, delivering a dream setting packed with neon-lit streets, mountain passes, rural roads, and unforgettable automotive moments. I’ve chased the Horizon across Japan for dozens of hours, and I’m happy to share: Forza Horizon 6 is one of the best racing games I have ever played. Let’s dive into my full review and take a deeper look at what makes Forza Horizon 6 one of the best racing games ever.
Forza Horizon 6 Details
Platform: Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, Steam, PlayStation 5, later this year
Reviewed On: Xbox Series X
Developer: Playground Games
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Genre: Open World Racing
Modes: Single-player, multiplayer
ESRB Rating: E for Everyone
Become a Horizon Festival Legend in Japan
Right from the start, Forza Horizon 6 puts the pedal to the metal, but with a stronger sense of progression. Like Forza Horizon 5, you don’t arrive as the undisputed superstar of the festival. You work your way in through qualifiers, races, and events, earning wristbands.
The return of Wristbands gives the campaign plenty of momentum. Every race, discovery, collectible, car, and event feeds into your greater journey as you gain experience for each. With Wristbands, Stamps, and Horizon Play, solo racers, explorers, and multiplayer drivers across all disciplines have meaningful ways to progress.
Japan is the Perfect Horizon Playground
Japan might be the most requested setting in Forza Horizon history, and after playing Forza Horizon 6, it’s easy to understand why. This map is not just beautiful; it feels purpose-built for the full range of Horizon experiences.
The rural routes are perfect for scenic cruising. The mountain passes are a dream for drifting and tight technical racing. The city streets bring a new energy to the series, especially at night. Tokyo City is the biggest urban area ever featured in a Horizon game, five times larger than Forza Horizon 5’s Guanajuato, and it’s packed with sights and activities.
Modern and traditional, urban and rural, quiet roads and packed festival routes all flow together beautifully. Cherry blossoms, docks, mountain roads, shrines, highways, tunnels, and dense city districts keep exploration consistently exciting.
Forza Horizon 6 Offers Content for Miles
The career mode in Forza Horizon 6 is absolutely packed. Races, showcases, touge battles, drag meets, time attack circuits, bonus boards, mascot collectibles, photo challenges, homes, garages, and open-world discoveries all stack together in that classic “just one more event” loop.
What makes Forza Horizon 6 so effective is that it rarely forces you down one narrow path. Road racing, drifting, exploring, collecting cars, taking photos, and building your dream garage all feel equally valid. The new Stamps system also gives exploration far more meaning, turning Japan into a place you are documenting rather than just driving through.
Deeper Customization and Japanese Car Culture
Forza Horizon 6 takes the series’ already excellent customization and pushes it even further. Updated Forza Aero, new body kit options, painted-window liveries, Forza Edition cars with extreme modifications, and a better-balanced roster across performance classes gave me plenty to experiment with. The new R Class adds another smart layer to tuning, and event selection, the track-focused, ultra high-performance vehicles offered one of my favourite cars in the game with the Ferrari FXX-K Evo.
Estate and Garage Customization
Garage customization is a notable highlight, but the Estate is where Forza Horizon 6 starts to feel more personal. Player Houses give you a place to settle into the world, while the Estate lets you decorate your space, organize your collection, and show off the cars you have earned along the way. It adds a lifestyle layer around the racing, turning your progress into something you can actually see and shape. Racing is still the heart of the experience, but these surrounding systems make Japan come across as less like a backdrop and more like a world you are building a connection with.
Incredible Graphics and Performance
I reviewed Forza Horizon 6 across Xbox Series X, PC, and the ROG Xbox Ally X, and the game was beautifully optimized on each platform. On Xbox Series X, it delivers the polished, big-screen experience you would expect from a first-party showcase. On PC, it scales impressively with clean visuals and strong performance. On the ROG Xbox Ally X, it is especially exciting to see such a massive, visually rich open-world racer running so well in handheld form.
On all my platforms, Forza Horizon 6 is easily one of the most stunning racing games I have ever played. The cars, environments, lighting, and weather effects represent a new high point for the franchise, with Japan giving Playground Games an incredible canvas to work with.
Tokyo at night is the clear showstopper. The glimmer of neon signage, reflections on wet roads, dense city detail, and blazing sense of speed create moments that feel almost unreal. Rural areas are just as impressive in a different way, with softer lighting, sweeping roads, seasonal changes, and quiet routes that seem built for photo mode.
The cars themselves are just as impressive. Paint finishes, reflections, interiors, lighting, and environmental details are all top-tier. This is a game built for screenshots, videos, benchmarks, and those moments where you stop racing just to stare at the world.
A Few Technical Bumps in the Road
As polished as Forza Horizon 6 is, it isn’t completely flawless. I ran into occasional navigational issues and minor collision glitches. None of these issues came close to derailing the experience, but they are noticeable enough to mention. They are the only real thing holding Forza Horizon 6 back from a perfect score, and that is saying a lot for how large and ambitious the map and car roster are.
Final Thoughts on Forza Horizon 6
Playground Games has done it again with Forza Horizon 6, delivering an incredible, thrilling, and beautifully crafted racing experience. The presentation is stunning, the driving feels fantastic, the world is a joy to explore, and the progression systems give the campaign a stronger sense of purpose.
Add in deeper customization, massive replayability, improved sound, meaningful multiplayer additions, and one of the most exciting settings in franchise history, and Forza Horizon 6 comfortably sits in the winner’s circle. The few technical issues I encountered keep it just shy of perfection, but they do very little to diminish what Playground Games has achieved here. Japan is waiting, and you won’t regret a single mile.
Forza Horizon 6 Pros
+Stunning graphics and art direction
+Japan is the best Horizon setting yet
+Fantastic driving and event variety
+Massive 550+ car launch roster
Forza Horizon 6 Cons
-A few minor technical issues with navigation and hit detection
-Some familiar event types return with only light changes
Overall Assessment of Forza Horizon 6
Gameplay: 9.5/10
Graphics: 9.5/10
Sound: 9.5/10
Replayability: 9.5/10
Forza Horizon 6 Overall Rating 38/40 — 95%
Xbox provided a copy of Forza Horizon 6 to conduct this review.
About the Author - Matthew "Dapper Tux" Rondina
Matthew has been involved in all things gaming since the 8-bit era. He is a video game and tech industry veteran who has been passionate about technology and gaming for over 20 years. In addition to being the Managing Editor of dappertux.com, he has bylines with Best Buy, Cineplex Entertainment, Mobile Syrup and Walmart. Follow Matthew’s gaming + tech adventures on multiple social platforms with the handle @dapper_tux via X, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, and join in on the fun!
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