Soapbox: I Hope Forza Horizon 6 Goes In A Different Direction For The Series

Neon. Lot and lots of neon. Needs more city roads. And a VW Golf with an ABA engine. Preferably a Cabrio.

This is why I skip a few entries in series that see frequent releases, I won't tire from the series as easily as those who play all of them. This article reeks of someone who gets them all day one and burnt themselves out on it.

I mean it's a racing game, the only Gameplay it has is driving a car. Doesn't really matter what setting there is in the background it will always feel "the same". That's just how sports games are, whether it's racing, football or basketball. It's always going to be the same, as you are constrained by the rules and boundaries of the sport.

The only thing they can do is put bigger gaps between games, maybe have 1 per console generation instead of 3 or 4.

There is really no major point to this. Racing games can rarely go in new directions. We haven't had a Forza Motorsport in ages and upon its final return it is ...wait for it.... exactly the same but higher graphics.
What it can fix however, is that it needs far better human models and far better voice acting, given the amount of talking you hear in those games and their sales and money there is no excuse for bad VA.

Massive FH fan since day one so here I go and I’m going out on a limb.

Bring in robberies like a getaway driver
And cop chases. A massive risk reward system
To buy cars depending on the robbery you did.
Street car gangs and turf gangs along with turf wars. Claiming back territory to make money and undertake more robberies.
Also you have to steal your fuel and car add on items and even cars themselves.
Become the gangster car king.

Also include a massive city as well like London or New York real to life, of course out of city as well.

I agree here too. I have loved every FH so far. 5 really perfected upon 4, which was more of a departure compared to 3 which perfected upon 2.
It's definitely time for a bit of a mix up. Nothing outlandish, but a further refinement from 5 to 6 is unnecessary in my view.

As good as it looked, FH5 was probably the least played game in the series for me. FH3 is still the best one for me. I agree though in that FH6 needs to do something different. It needs to re-invent the open-world racer.

Forza Horizon 6 needs to be different how?
Easier said than done, you cannot remake the wheel.

The problem these days is social media and false outrage. If you completely revamp the formula, 80% of Twitter and “gaming press” will be screaming “THIS ISN’T FORZA HORIZON AND I’M NOT PLAYING THIS GARBAGE” or similar. So it puts Playground and MS in a weird place. Make the comfort food or be bold.

@Chaudy never played the series myself so can’t offer much, but this got me thinking: what if the big change next game was walking?

Get off your car and jump on a bycicle? Multi-vehicle races where you hop of a car to jump on a motorcycle for a stretch, then jump of that and get on a boat, then… hell, rollerblade a stretch, maybe even flying a bit?

I think that would be a big change for the series.

@Tharsman that would no longer be Forza Hoirzon. What you've described is Riders Republic or The Crew. Sure it would be a big change but might mean the brand loses its identity and conventions that make up the Horizon dna.

Still need to try one of these games.

If FH6 is set in Japan, I probably won't be able to resist playing it. If it runs OK on my computer, that is.

@Kaloudz Well, that didn't work out well for her when she tried LOL.

My only gripe with FH in general is that the progression is not rewarding at all. Too many cars unlocked too early means I'm bored quickly. Make the career mode meaningful by giving me a broken down jalopy as my first car instead of a Ferrari. Make me earn my way into the festival, be the best and come out on top.

If it's open world it needs to feel like we're going on a journey, not just driving around a map, and if there's nothing to gain but different biomes, then there is very little incentive to keep exploring.

I think, unfortunately, that with the massive popularity of FH5, they will do more of the same though. I wouldn't expect big changes in 6, maybe in 7.

Terrible idea. Forza Horizon is by far the game of the generation so far. They don’t need to reinvent the wheel they need to add to and give us a new location that feels different.

@Sebatrox
I thought that might becoming NFS 😂
This would be in a Forza Horizon world and should also graphically be the best gangster car game ever 😎

Personally i prefer motorsport anyway. but as @relaxplease said, FH5 throws too many cars at you etc. Far too easy to be 'bored' of early on because of this.

@Stocksy
Totally agree on Game of Xbox series generation the only real AAA that has come from Xbox studios. Which is fantastic bit also sad over two years in.

Yeah we need neon. Hong Kong or Macau would be cool as well

Put motorcycles in the games as DLC instead of stuff we've already seen. That's probably the only thing that would get me playing it again. And as others have said, stop throwing cars at you for doing very little. Over 600 cars and most people only ever try between 30-50. Or possibly do something a little like the Crew. Stick some race tracks around the map so folks can have track meets without having to buy Motorsport.

FH5 was perfect. They have a winning formula and should stick to it. The game started a discussion on whether racing games can be game of the year.

I’d want them to do one of 2 things:

• Make Horizon 6 take place in an unreal location. Like space or something. Or maybe keep it in a real world country but just do crazy stuff like we see in the DLC packs.
• Finally make a Forza Street. And not that free-to-play mobile game. Like a full blown AAA Street Racing game with the physics of the Horizon games.

FH does metropolis street racing.different cities the original MSR was amazing 3 cities

Give me a huge and detailed city based map... Tokyo, London, New York, whatever, with lots street racing (a la Project Gotham).
It can still take detours into city patks etc to mix things up a bit.

Oh, yeah... and give us some "blur" mode races with power-ups.

How about not basing it on a real life city?

How about a big map with 4 sectors each with their own biomes. A city area, snowy area, swampy area and maybe a sandy area etc similar to fantasy games.

Find it funny that the author says he wants the series to go in a new direction but doesn’t say what it needs to do that. The series is and should be about open world racing. Racing fans with PlayStations have been jealous that they don’t have an open world racing game that comes close to replicating the FH series (hope is that the new Test Drive Unlimited does).

Anyway, I think a location like Japan / Tokyo could be the “refresh” the series needs. Somewhere that is much different than where it has been before. That’s all.

Wants game to go in different direction...offers no suggestions on what different direction they could take. Like others have said, it's a racing game and the options are limited.

Forza Future World Tournament

Battle ready antigrav cars & bikes with pulse/energy weapons

I would love it if they go back to the FH1 vibe. Keep the upbeat Horizon theme, but also add some edge to the game with illegal underground races, cool and intimidating rivals and also stop with the censoring of songs. Make illegal street races actual illegal street races which are not a part of the Horizon festival, like it was in FH1. Make the series PEGI 12 again and give the series some depth and character. FH5 felt really flat and shallow. It's just a lala land, where nothing bad ever happens and this gets old really quickly. And most importantly: ADD A PROPER PROGRESSION SYSTEM. The one in the hot wheels expansion was pretty good and it would also work in the base game as well. As for the setting, I would really love if they make FH6 in Japan or South Korea.

I agree. I don't know what that new direction is and, frankly, it's not my job to figure that out. What I do know is that FH5 has been my least played Forza Horizon game because I couldn't get past feeling like I was just playing in a prettier Australia. Hell, I'm almost certain some, if not many, of the off road races are just copy/pastes of the same courses from FH4.

I've put more time in the Hot Wheels expansion for FH5 than I've put into the base game — and both pale in comparison to the time I put in FH3 and 4.

The "here's a big map loaded with icons" design with constant rewards that have me drowning in cars has run its course for me.

Forza horizon 6 really does need to be more than the same game with a different reskinned world and more mobile mechanics. As pretty as it is it’s also becoming less engaging for me personally with every addition. I’ve not the patience any more for 1200 wheel spins and travelling for 10mins to start a race I’ve zero chance in winning because the gameplay has never really incorporated the tuning aspect before said race.

What I want is either a move further towards the social aspect of the game - allow us to leave the vehicle…instantly adding more purpose to our ‘hubs’. As well as allowing more variation on gameplay (there could be a Pokémon snap game in their where you have to drive to rumoured spots, get out and take pictures of hidden creature or whatever - they’ll have the fable assets)

Or…go more arcade with it. Offer server’s to instantly find the lap races you want. Options for just standard cars. Basically give FH a needed rest and bring back project Gotham instead.

I absolutely have a burning desire for a Japanese location! This series is bloody popular, reinventing the wheel could be a bad move.

COD is the same old ***** every year yet it makes millions.

I quite like the race against jet ski show event in FH5. With the next entry I think they should slow it down to 1 entry per console generation and have a massive open world built like the current one with like 3/5 different biomes (covering city like Tokyo, countryside like uk, tropical like South America etc). And then the expanded stuff could slowly come like off road 4x4 bikes, snowmobiles, jet skis and small stunt planes. Where you race against the cars as part of the horizon festival.

Maybe they could combine some rpg elements in there. They are getting that exp from their Fable team. Mix it up with some metaversical overworld. Make it really compatible with FM mainseries as in, your avatar could travel from monza to Barcelona, get out of the cars and enter a trackday. Switching seamlessly from a fmh game to fm.

I love the fact they give you a lot of cars from the get go. FH5 is my most played FH because I love the, go in and out, for a few hours, and drive different vehicles. Play another game and jump right into where I left of. Licenses are a big deal but my personal take would be, make the car culture as big as you can. It’s already big but put in some Dakar, Hill Climbs and Rallycross for instance. If possible give players a big space where they can walk around their collection (showroom, parking lot, …) Make every car discipline the HW/Rally type progression (Crosscountry, Street race, Rally, …). They probably already made some basics for FH6 and PG is know to do their own thing. I wouldn’t mind traveling to different countries as locations but that would be very expensive to make. Japan/Tokyo, best Scandinavian road-trips, or, the best car roads in the world? I checked and I got 128 days in the game.

I think they peaked at fh4, though the best urban races were the ones in fh3.
I miss the sense of progression in fh5. Your given everything almost immediately, no incentive to earn new motors.
it would be good to change the formula. Maybe a little car crash takedown like burnout....

just going to throw it out there. Is it getting to the point the MS franchises are getting a bit long in the tooth now? Forza/Halo/Gears so many in their respective series each feels kinda samey, become less enthusiastic for them.

not just aiming that at Microsoft happens with many long term series Gran turismo lost its way, NFS popularity dropped, as an example.

Ever since Horizon 4, the whole festival thing has felt really sidelined and unnecessary, like it's just there in the background but it's totally unneeded and there is really nothing to it anymore. I would like to see them just make it more of an open world driving game, something more like the Test Drive Unlimited games where you got a big environment to drive around that is more true to scale with some buildings and dealerships you can walk into, maybe some social hub spots for hanging out with people as well. There's a lot they can do to change it up.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown shows what Forza Horizon 6 should be.

Far Eastern country, some real purpose to having your avatar other than someone who stands around and reacts to what's happening and buildings have more purpose than just a glorified menu.

I'd have loved if Forza Horizon 5 or 6 had the same formula as several other games have, where you drive to a particular car showroom to buy your next car, where there's places like a social club where you meet other players...

I don't want the only thing that I do in my open world be driving to the next location and racing on the same roads as I drive on.
I'd like there to be a good reason I own a house and go to the various hub areas.

That would make the game better... by making it less a driving simulator and more a living world.

I do as well. The Forza Horizon games are the main reason I even have an Xbox at all and while I love 5,really just feels like 4 in a new skin at times. Hoping for a drastic change for the next one in a couple years

Forza burning rubber, not villages. North Wall licking?

I agree. No more countryside, forests, or villages. There needs to be a refresh in terms of the landscape of where the game is set. Get rid of the whole Horizon Festival setting of the game and transform it into something with a whole new premise.

I'm curious as to how Horizon 4 could be better than 5. They seem literally exactly the same.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner Why fix what isn't broken?

The single biggest problem I have with all the major racing/driving franchises (FH, Forza, Gran Turismo) is that no matter how photorealistic their tracks or environments get you're still in an uncanny valley bereft of actual LIFE. Precious few if any human spectators or pedestrians, no genuine congestion in urban areas, no animal life; it's all very pretty and very lifeless. You're driving through ghost towns even in downtown Tokyo in GT7; it kills the immersion because it feels artificial, like those stand-up props made to resemble storefronts in old Westerns. I realize there are technical limitations on hardware and that too much traffic or pedestrians would create impediments to speed if not outright carnage, but nevertheless it's why all these environments feel the same...just sterile and un-lived-in.

I don't think something as radical as changing the formula to feel more like Burnout Paradise or Need For Speed is the answer; perhaps simply an increased focus on more animated NPCs, wildlife, etc.. In any case,, hopefully developers like Playground can better bridge that valley in future games.

The trouble with Forza games is that the assets are developed iteratively along with the series. If you make major changes you end up with FM5 which everyone hated because it felt like a shell of its former self. It'll have to happen eventually I guess. But like with other sports titles I think there's no harm in skipping a year or two and coming back to it fresh. Then you see the progress which has been made more clearly, benifit from much expanded car list and they're way more fun.

FH5 is far and away the best game in the series for me. I hope they change location and give me more of the same.

I couldn't get into FH4, but I think they polished the seasons better for FH5.

I don't know about you all, but FH3 was the best for me. Built natively for XB1, a varying terrain, sweet cars and I mean sweet. Music was great, not as great as the first, but I really liked the 3rd offering.

I don't get to play as often and the seasons kind of mess up my progress it feels.

@AtlanteanMan On a similar note I would like to see randomly generated skyline and cloud formations.
Kind of sick of seeing the same skies and clouds all the time, but maybe that is not possible with current tech.

It has been apparent for 4 and 5 that Microsoft have been keen to turn it into a live service game for a while now. It was obvious that some IAP for Wheelspins was stripped from 4 at the last minute in response to the backlash against Battlefront 2. The game's constant updates are to keep people paying for Gamepass.

Thus why not do a World Tour? They could do a weekly rotation of maps from previous titles and some new ones with a remaster of the FH1-3 maps. They could also roll in the DLC ones (Storm Island, Blizzard Mountain etc) as part of this too.

The retail release would be a new campaign set on Hokkaido but the online side would be that rotational gameplay.

@Dezzy70
Sounds like you should just play GTA instead at that point.

If they reinvented the wheel and made the gameplay/structure/physics radically different, it wouldn't really be Forza Horizon would it? Might as well make a brand new game and call it something new.

If it was really grindy, it also wouldn't be Forza. Part of the fun of Forza is it is a bit more of a free for all, where can just bomb around in fast cars and do what you want, not spend hours and hours grinding in order to unlock the next car etc.

Japan would be the best location too. The combination of beautiful rural locations including Okinawa, as well as night time street racing in Tokyo, and classic touge battles on mountain passes would be hard to beat.

@Dezzy70 What you described it's called GTA and hell no we don't need that garbage brought into a beautifull game like Forza ..

I said it before and I'll say it again,Canada would've been a much better choice then Mexico if they wanted this brought back to North America but I guess it's too late now...I'll take Japan over whatever they plan to next.Would be nice if they listened to the community at least once ..

@ValentineMeikin They didn't even showed any real gameplay yet and you're saying TDU Solar Crown it's better?lol PS:That game it's being developed for 3 years now and the only thing steady it's the delays ..btw from the looks of it it's not gonna be released this year either as we still don't have a release date .

They need to drop the super boring festival setup. All the horizon games after the first one has been boring, even thought he driving is great, the setup is just tedious. I never completed any of them after the first because of this.

They need a story mode for single-player.
They need A LOT LESS races - to finish the story, and no repeat tracks. Also, if they are sticking to classes and such, you need to remove the ability to change the class of the races. It needs a lot more direction.

@AtlanteanMan What sane developer is going to spend their rendering budget on animals and humans in a racing game? That would be taking resources away from the stuff that is most important which is the car and tracks or environments.

@species8472 I doubt we'll see something that like that cause then they can't get on stage a be like "This is the most accurate created sky for this region ever in a video game"

@AverageGamer I'm not saying it has to be constant and in your face, but you have to admit there's a bit of a disconnect when racing through vast environments that are completely devoid of actual life or motion, no matter how photorealistic. And when a developer cuts corners to "fill out" their game with human spectators, such as GT7's literal flat cut-outs of people in the grandstands or on the sides of the track, you can't un-see it once you notice.

Again, I'm not saying it has to be a huge priority, just not so much of an afterthought that it begins to detract from all the effort that's going into the environments themselves. Even 25 year-old Arcade coin-ops like Sega Rally Championship pulled off flocks of birds scattering into the air; surely current hardware can manage similar stuff without breaking a sweat.