It's been a few short months since Forza Horizon 5 launched, and debate is already raging on various platforms as to where the next game should be set. Fans are bringing up all sorts of requests, including Chile, Germany and even somewhere in Africa. However, you guessed it, Japan is right up there as a top request.
In a Reddit thread titled "Horizon 6 should be set in Japan. Change my mind", things are getting quite feisty. There's a core group of Forza fans that have wanted Japan for a few games now, although they're starting to get some pushback.
The lust for a Japanese location doesn't stop at us mere fans either. Xbox exec Jason Ronald recently guest starred on the Xbox Era podcast, and he too brought up Japan (or China) as a location he'd like to see. Jason was quick to note that he had no inside knowledge on the next location, but, we'll see. Here's what he had to say:
"Personally I would love to see something in Asia — Japan, China, something like that — but at the end of the day, I trust Playground [Games] and whatever they do next they're going to do an amazing job with."
The topic of Forza in Japan is a regular one on the Forza forums too. There's near-constant requests for the location to be considered for the next Horizon game, with players pointing towards its car culture, and its geographical differences to past Horizon games, as big reasons for the Horizon Festival to make its mark in the country.
There's a little bit of nostalgia sprinkled in there too, from what we can gather. Need for Speed was once a much more relevant racing series, and its open worlds, while fictional, were often filled with bright neon lights and tight city streets that would feel right at home in a Japanese location.
Here at Pure Xbox HQ, we have mixed opinions on the matter. Some of us question whether Japan is the best fit for the Horizon Festival, while others think it's clearly the place to go next. We all agree that the series could do with a change of scenery for its sixth entry though, as mentioned in our Forza Horizon 5 review.
Do you think Forza Horizon 6 should be set in Japan? Let us know below.
Comments 28
In contrast to the cringe-worthy review of Forza Horizon 5 that was published on this website, I think that Japan didn't make sense for a cross-gen game but the next one could be Japan because it will be new-gen only and the neon lights and lighting of Japan's cities could work very well on the new consoles with new-gen effects and true ray-tracing. According to Playground, Forza Horizon 4 uses some kind of "ray-tracing" but it's not the true kind.
China actually isn't a bad shout - has some cities lit up like Tokyo (and could have Japan as the "serious" DLC or in the game as an island) while also offering a huge diversity of terrain.
Wouldn't hurt Xbox expansion in the region either...
@Banjo- Forza Horizon 5 only uses graphical ray tracing during the Forza Vista - the vehicle viewing mode present at player houses and the Horizon Festival. This likely isn't because of cross-gen, which the game handles brilliantly, but because real time ray traced reflections and lighting are too expensive for the little benefit they add when travelling at 200mph. They already have good enough fallbacks that cost a fraction of the frame budget.
It does however use ray tracing for sound, so that your car sounds different when it is driving through a town or tunnel for example.
https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/forza-horizon-5-uses-ray-tracing-but-not-how-you-think
Yes. There is lots of potential for off-road racing too. You have mountainous terrain around Fiji, along with snowy environments from the north of the country. The whole game doesn’t need to revolve around rally. Having a larger city would make the game more appealing, to me at least.
The thing I'd want the most for Forza Horizon's future is that games aren't delisted after 4 years. FH3 is easily my favourite FH game but new players won't be able to experience it unless they get a used physical copy because it was delisted in 2020.
@themightyant I know all that but there is a kind of pre-baked or basic ray-tracing for graphics in the game that is more advanced than the lighting of 4, the developer explained that in one interview. I don't remember how they described the lighting but they compared it to ray tracing. It's not real ray-tracing. I know that it sounds confusing but if I find that interview I'll post the link (all the links I find now are related to the audio). Anyway, it doesn't matter and I never said that it uses true ray-tracing, let's say that the lighting of 5 is one step above 4 and leave it there. In a current-gen only game, they could use real ray-tracing in the game for graphics, that would be 6, not 5. It would make a lot of sense in Japanese cities with neon lights and futuristic cityscape at night.
Eh, Japan could work. Great city races for sure but I could see endless drift and Touge events too. No thanks.
Let’s get the whole playground games team on Fable for now please, we need that game, not another Forza Horizon for about 3 years.
Don’t forget we have 2 DLC to come yet.
@Dezzy70 Yea, I still play Forza Horizon 3, 4 and 5. There's more than enough Forza Horizon with 4 and 5 (3 was delisted) and there is no Fable since Xbox 360. No Viva Piñata, no Bajo-Kazooie, no Conker. etc.
@Royalblues I regret not buying 2, it was a Game with Gold that I claimed but I can't play it anymore, unless I'm doing something wrong? I thought I would have access to it after being delisted. I am re-installing, just in case.
I'll say it again... We need a city based, street racing game that sits between Horizon and Motorsport (a true Project Gotham successor).
Put that game in a Japan locale and you've got a hit.
@antstephenson I honestly can't believe the PGR formula has never been taken up elsewhere. FH4 gave it homage in the racing game history story, DriveClub did it in a DLC pack, but how a studio hasn't said, F it, let's make a PGR clone is beyond me.
I feel like we already would have gotten one in Japan already. Maybe its not a great location or maybe they are just waiting until Forza Horizon falters a bit so they can pull this one out.
@Banjo- You should be able to play it. I never bought FH2 and yet played it recently as I "owned" it through GWG. It's a solid game.
Does it show up under the "Games with Gold" tab in "My games & apps"?
@Banjo- If the 4 year license is still the case with FH4 it'll be delisted this year and so if Motorsport doesn't launch this year FH5 will be the only Forza available. As for FH2, older delisted games don't show up in the game library (e.g. FM5) so you may need to search for the game in the Microsoft Store and install from there.
@themightyant Last time I tried, I couldn't played it but I re-installed it and now I can so probably an account glitch or something. The only Forza Horizon that I can't play is 1, then (because I never got it, I didn't even have Xbox).
@Grumblevolcano I know that 4 will be delisted but people can still buy 4 and 5 and hopefully everybody here knows and purchase 4 before that happens so they can keep it and play it forever like 1, 2 and 3. I would have done that with 2 but at least I have it with Gold. The only one that I missed is 1.
@Shigurui
Yep... PGR was awesome.
I think having a city based street racer would really scratch an itch that Horizon and Motorsport don't really do.
Also having a handling model that is a bit heavier than Horizon, but not as sim like as Motorsport, would also serve a market that's neglected at the moment.
There's GRID Legends coming out soon... The last GRID had some great stuff that was PGR-ish, but also some really game breaking stuff (stupidly aggressive AI etc).
Japan would be a great place for Forza. Giant cities, small villages and farms, all kinds of different weather. Please?
It'd be nice to see some underrepresented (as far as gaming) locations. Zimbabwe, Malaysia, someplace different with bustling city areas and scenic off roads and coasts. I mean look at FH5, it's the most positive representation of Mexico I've seen in a video game and helped expand my image of it beyond Cancun, Day of the Dead, etc. Japan is beautiful, yes, but there's a lot of world out there worth exploring imo.
Drifting will have to become a major aspect of the game if it does hit the Land of the Rising Sun. They have some of the best roads for drifting.
@Wakkawipeout Good call! I'd like to see Morocco or Cairo. I was doubtful that Mexico would be as interesting as previous locations but it was a superb choice. The game really showcased the country.
@Banjo- FH1 was given out in GWG in Sep 2016.
I came to the series late and was thankful to already have FH1&2. Bought FH3 and 4&5 were on Game Pass.
IMHO #1 is an inferior game, interesting to see how far the series has come but it stands out compared to the others. Still. A good game but not missing too much. You ou can still buy on disc if you really want it for a few quid.
@themightyant 3 and 4 are the ones that I've played the most but still have a lot to do in 4 and 5 and haven't played 2 😂. I'm happy to know that I can still play 2 even if I don't own it.
They're all great. Though I played them all in a pretty short space of time (a couple of years) which perhaps partly explains why I fell off FH5 pretty hard and am not as glowing with praise about it as others.
Ultimately I think it's a brilliant game that's very hard to fault, it mostly improves on FH4 in many ways, but it's also just very samey, and with that a bit too safe and unsurprising.
Hopefully the DLC is more Hot Wheels like mayhem!
@antstephenson Yeah PGR had the best gameplay loop and physics model of any arcade racer I've played. I just wish that MS would resurrect it with a remaster to test the market for a revival or just find a way to get it into the BC catalogue. It's sad to see such an amazing series left on the vine.
@Banjo- I would think they would want Ray Tracing to work well to do Japan justice.
@iplaygamesnstuff Yes, I think that real ray tracing for graphics should make a futuristic nighttime cityscape look really impressive.
The next game needs a soft reboot IMO. 5 was a big improvement on the grind fest of 4 but still but the story mode still wasn’t as good as 1, the urban environments not a patch on 2 and the biomes not as good as 3. The seasons are frankly a complete waste of time in this game whereas they were the only thing keeping 4 interesting.
I’d like a ‘grassroots’ return of the Horizon Festival proper. No more daft stuff like parachuting out of planes but a little more realistic like 1. Instead of videogamey floating writing can we get the small outposts for races dotting the map? The first game absolutely nailed the idea of the fictional festival.
With that in mind a trip to Japan would be ace. Bring back the variable weather from number 2, ditch the seasons and make the day/night cycle longer. Japan is always associated with a cool night neon aesthetic so make that part of the game with unofficial street races happening after hours. Rather than a shrunken down version of the whole country just try to build a 1:50 replica of Hokkaido in the late summer.
Plot-wise I would make it a more rag-tag affair. Maybe the Horizon Festival went too big and jumped the shark (which 5 has done) and so a bunch of enthusiasts have rebooted the festival to make it more about the racing. Tone down the off-road sections so the map becomes learnable again, again a little like 2.
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