by Filippo DinolfoThis is a review that I wasn’t actually expecting to write. I mentioned in passing to our editor that I was interested in Forza Horizon 6, but sort of forgot about it amid a whole lot of other unrelated stuff in my life. Well, a couple of weeks back, I got a DM with a Steam code, and here we are now.
After the 155+ gigabyte download, I booted up Forza Horizon 6 for the first time. “Interesting” is a loaded word, but I underestimated just how jam-packed this game is.
Roads of the rising sun
This time, the Horizon Festival is headed to Japan. This particular venue is a place the team has long wanted to take on. Given the last five games and how each one has steadily improved, I’m glad they waited, because the cumulative experience and iterations to the engine and tools meant they could really hit the ground running and present the setting in the best possible way.
Much like other games in the series and other open-world racing games at this point, the first few minutes act as a teaser to get you excited for what’s to come. It’s nothing too stressful, and you can clear those opening bits quickly. Then you meet the characters you’ll be following throughout the game, and create your avatar. From there, it’s time to let loose with your first goal of qualifying for the festival itself.
You’ll do this by participating in and completing Horizon events. You’ll need to amass a set amount of points to earn a wristband, which then grants you access to higher tier events. It’s an easy, straightforward progression that keeps things moving with different types of events, better cars, and a wide variety of locales and conditions.
There is also a series of Discover Japan events. These range from day trips to street races, food delivery jobs, and more. It’s a good idea to intermix Horizon and Discover Japan events as you play. I tried to focus too much on the main event, and it started to feel a bit grindy around the pink wristband. Doing Discover Japan events, or just driving around and doing nothing at all really helped reset my mindset and let me get back to the main quest refreshed and ready to go.
It’s still Forza Horizon in all the best ways
The Horizon Rush events are my favorite ones to play. They’re basically obstacle courses set up for cars. Each one is set in a different locale, and they make great use of the features of those locales to create fun, thematic challenges. The first one you’ll do is at the docks, and you’ll be navigating shipping containers, warehouses, and other random hazards you’d find there.
While driving around and taking in the sights, you can also discover cars for sale, cars sitting in barns, or rare cars just sitting abandoned in random locations. Collection and discovery mechanics have been around for years in the series, so this isn’t that new. What is new, though, is my interest in actually pursuing them. There is just something about the setting (maybe it’s because I’ve always wanted to visit Japan) that just made me want to explore and see what was around that next corner, or just on the other side of the hill. It actually slowed down my main story progression because I was having so much fun tearing around the island.
Forza Horizon 6 absolutely nails the setting and presentation. The thing that has always put me off Horizon games, though, has been the navigation. For those who have been following my work, accessibility is important to me. Accessibility options can make or break my experience with a game, so buckle up: this is going to be a trip!
“ANNA” levels up accessibility
The biggest part of an open-world game is getting around the open world itself. For most players, this isn’t a huge problem. But if you’re someone with low vision, like me, this very quickly becomes an exercise in frustration when you’re trying to slowly drive from location to location. If you’re just exploring, it’s no big deal; you don’t have anywhere you need to be. But if you want to make progress, this will kill any enjoyment a person like me would get from the game. That is not at all the case with Forza Horizon 6. Here, you can pick where you want to go on the map, and then have ANNA, the GPS from previous games, take over your nervous system and drive you there. Okay, maybe it’s not so dramatic, but your driver is making all the proper driving motions as you’re going, so I’m going with that.
This one single feature turns Forza Horizon 6 from a game I might’ve bounced off of to one that I’m sticking with for the long term. The term “game-changer” gets thrown around a lot, but this is the kind of feature that lives up to the moniker. If you set a waypoint on the map, ANNA drives you there. It doesn’t matter if it’s an event or a spot on the map that looks interesting. If it’s a valid waypoint, you’re going there. It can be a bit odd at times, where the AI might get stuck depending on where you’re starting from, but it’s a lot better than having to muddle through at twenty miles an hour.
Previous Forza games also had a comprehensive suite of difficulty and assist options. This is no different. You can tailor the game’s difficulty and realism to match your tastes or abilities. The All Assists mode does exactly what it says on the tin, assisting in every aspect, from braking to shifting to full-on steering assistance. Each option has varying levels, so you can move up as you get more confident. The game will even encourage this. Eventually, you’ll find the settings you like and just have fun with them.
Extreme visibility
The other big hurdle for people with low vision is actually seeing what is happening. With the continual push toward better visual fidelity and realism, we get games that look more and more like real life. The problem is that if we can’t see a thing in real life, we can’t see it in the games we play. This leads to many games becoming unplayable for people like me.
This next feature is another game-changer. Playground and Turn 10 have added the ability to completely change how the game renders. The High Contrast Mode sacrifices fidelity for visibility. It gives you the ability to change how world elements render and the colors they are presented in. If you want a road to always be black, you can make it so. If you’d just like to highlight traffic cars and leave everything else unchanged, you can do that too.
There is also an interesting side effect to this, too. Turning on all the options and tailoring the colors can give the game a unique, kind of cool look. I really can’t stress how meaningful a change this actually is, though, and I’m glad that it came when the series went to a location I really vibe with.
Additional accessibility notes
While all this is an exceptional step forward, there are a few things that probably could still improve. I will mention them, but compared to the above changes that literally allow an entire audience into the game, these are minor.
HUD element transparency cannot be changed, as far as I was able to tell. It would be nice to be able to do this, especially for the mini-map. I saw there was an opacity option for subtitles, so scrolling through all of the settings without finding this particular one stuck out.
Though the game does offer a high-contrast setting for the UI and menus, the menus in particular would benefit from a “light on dark” theme rather than the current “dark on light.”
One other minor note I’d like to make relates to high-contrast rendering. I love that we have the option. I love that the setting exists, and I make use of it. I also toggle back to normal rendering when I’m just driving around or in a location I am familiar with. It would be really nice to have a button combination that toggles the mode on and off on the fly.
The last note I want to bring up is the inclusion of the Screen Reader function. I am using the game’s “On” setting, not system default, so I’m forcing it to always be active. I noticed that it can be a bit inconsistent with triggering. For the most part, it works fine, but occasionally it just won’t read any menus. This is probably something that can be sorted, but I’m mentioning it. I would also say it would be a really cool touch if we had the option to use ANNA’s voice as the screen reader. I have no idea how feasible that’d be, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
A feast for the senses
It seems a little weird for me to be commenting on visual fidelity after spending so much of my word count praising features that actually reduce it, but even though I don’t see well, I can appreciate what I do see. For that, Forza Horizon 6 is an amazing game. When you’re in the game world, it really does look and feel like you’re there. Using HDR and driving around using the in-car view is nothing short of gorgeous on my 4K OLED. It single-handedly makes the case for why HDR needs to become more of a thing.
The audio presentation is also absolutely excellent. Whether it’s the environmental effects, the engine notes, or the various impact sounds you’ll inevitably be hearing, the game does a fantastic job of sounding the part. For me, the radio stations stand out. Sure, they’re not new for the series, but it’s the sort of thing that lends more authenticity to the whole experience. DJs’ calling out events or commenting on what’s going on all just make the whole place feel more alive.
Verdict? Not parking the game anytime soon.
To wrap up, Forza Horizon 6 is an absolutely massive game for the franchise. It is a landmark title, as it not only does everything it sets out to do but also does so in a way that allows anyone, even those previously put off by open-world games, to play and enjoy it.
It’s hard to stress how huge Forza Horizon 6 is. Playground and Turn 10 Studios have made the conscious decision to take the time to figure this stuff out. They succeeded in creating a game that immerses you in the culture and lets you have a great time. Even if you aren’t coming at this one from an accessibility standpoint, the game is an absolute blast to play. If you have a passing interest in the series, this is the one to start with.
Forza Horizon 6
