'Forza Horizon 6' Review: Japan Was Worth The Wait

2026-05-15 02:18:44

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The menu screen loads, and before you've touched the throttle, Forza Horizon 6 has already made its first impression. A track called You by Kasablanca and Lane 8 plays out, and if the YouTube comments on that song are anything to go by, the rest of the world felt exactly the same thing: an immediate sense that something special is about to happen.

It does.

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Japan has been the most requested setting in the franchise's 14-year history, and Playground Games has delivered. The map is large, varied, and genuinely beautiful - Shibuya's neon-lit chaos, winding mountain roads dusted with cherry blossoms, snow-capped peaks in the distance. Driving around is as thrilling as it is calm, which sounds contradictory until you actually experience it. Japan just has that effect.

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There's plenty to do, and almost all of it happens from behind the wheel. Cinematic cutscenes are the exception; everything else is in-car. The game rewards you for nearly everything - clean driving, drifting, near-misses, jumping off mountain ramps, even crashing. All of it feeds into a skill point system you can redeem for passive bonuses on your favourite cars, which makes even casual cruising feel purposeful.

The big structural change this time around is the progression system. You arrive in Japan as a tourist and work your way up through seven Wristband levels, each requiring you to earn points across different race types before a showpiece Wristband event unlocks. These events are more spectacle than serious competition - cinematic cuts; trains, planes, and even robots skimming past as you launch off enormous ramps - and they're genuinely fun for it. Alongside the Wristband path is a separate Stamp progression tied to exploration: discovering roads, photographing landmarks, collecting mascots, completing side missions. Each tier unlocks hidden Barns on the map, where a rare car is yours if you can find it.

The Treasure Cars are a personal highlight. You receive a photo clue of a car parked somewhere in Japan, and you have to find it by cruising around until the scene in the photo clicks into place. It's a small thing, but it captures something that the best open-world games do well: making exploration feel genuinely rewarding rather than just a checklist.

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The car roster is a gearhead's paradise. With over 550 vehicles and a natural emphasis on JDM legends, this is one of the few games where you feel the weight of Japan's contribution to the automotive world. You can also tune most cars to your liking. For me, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII quickly became the go-to for cruising and drifting, while the Mercedes-AMG handled anything that needed to be done at speed, at least, for now. Credits flow generously, so don't stress about running out.

Player homes serve as fast travel points and let you display cars in your garage, with the Estate acting as a larger creative sandbox once you've progressed far enough. It's a feature that will appeal to a certain type of player - think decorating an abandoned forest property with props and sharing it with the community - though it's easy to skip if that's not your thing.

Street races deserve a mention because they feel like the toughest events in the game, and deliberately so. Unlike Festival races, they're not locked to a car tier, so if you bring a supercar, your rivals will match you. If your control isn't there yet, you will need a few tries to secure first position on the podium.

The camera modes are an underrated part of the experience. Alongside two third-person angles, there are three first-person views: one with a full steering wheel, one with the windshield and bonnet, and one showing only the road ahead. The audio shifts between them, and the in-car whoosh at full speed is genuinely satisfying. Driving flat-out through a tunnel might be the game's single best sensory moment.

Performance on Xbox Series X in Quality mode held up well throughout. AI traffic can occasionally be dense in the head - expect a random car to park itself in front of you, or take a turn at the worst possible moment - but the Rewind feature bails you out at any point, in any race. It's a forgiving system that doesn't break immersion.

Difficulty is adjustable at any time across roughly eight levels, and the game nudges you to push higher when it senses your current setting is too comfortable. It's a nice touch for both casual and competitive gamers.

For Xbox players in the UAE, the game is available on Game Pass Ultimate from day one, which makes the entry point easy to justify. For those who've been deep in another game recently - and there are a few strong ones competing for attention right now - Forza Horizon 6 is a genuinely excellent reason to come up for air. It is, in equal parts, a racing game and a kind of moving meditation. Japan has that effect, even in digital form.

The game releases on May 19, 2026. The Standard Edition of Forza Horizon 6 starts is priced at $69.99, and the Deluxe Edition at $99.99 on the Xbox Store. Players who have purchased the Premium Edition, priced at $119.99, get early access and can drop into the game starting May 15, 2026.

Score: 4.5/5

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