TL;DR: Forza Horizon 6 is the best racing game of 2026 and arguably the best Horizon game ever made. Japan was the right call, the map is the best the series has produced, touge battles are a genuine revelation, and 550+ cars on day one is just ridiculous. The campaign dialogue is bland, the handling on default settings is a bit too safe, and the monetization layering is still there. None of that stops this from being an absolute masterpiece of open-world racing. On Game Pass it's a no-brainer. At $70 it's still worth every penny.
Japan.
We've been asking for it since Colorado. Since Nice. Since Edinburgh. Since Australia. Since Mexico.
Every single time a new Horizon location got announced, there was a corner of the community going "okay but what about Japan though."
Fourteen years of asking.
Playground Games heard every single one of those requests, sat on them, and waited until they had the hardware to actually do it justice.
Worth the wait doesn't cover it.
What's the Setup
You arrive in Japan as a tourist. Not a racing champion. Not a returning legend. A tourist.
That's the whole starting point. You don't have access to the fastest cars. You don't walk straight into the Horizon Festival.
You have to earn your way in — completing Horizon Qualifiers to get your first wristband, then working through escalating ranks until you reach the top tier and unlock the coveted Gold Wristband and access to Legend Island.
It's a genuine change from how previous Horizon games handled progression. FH5 basically handed you everything immediately. Here you feel the climb. And because the map is so dense and rewarding to explore at every stage, the climb feels earned rather than slow.
Each rank limits you to a specific class of car for its events.
You start with modest machinery.
As you progress, faster and more exotic cars open up. By the time you're running R-class builds on Legend Island, you understand exactly why Playground gated you out of them at the start.
The Map. Let's Talk About the Map.
Forza Horizon 5's Mexico map was gorgeous. It was also, once the novelty wore off, a bit empty. Big and flat in places. Not enough going on between the beautiful bits.
Japan fixes every single one of those problems.
The FH6 map is the largest in franchise history — and it's dense all the way through. Six distinct regions covering completely different terrain: Tokyo City and its famous C1 expressway loop, the Japanese Alps for mountainous touge roads, Tohoku's forests and rural valleys, Kyushu's coastal roads, Hokkaido's snow-covered winter landscapes, and the postcard-perfect area around Mount Fuji. Every region has a completely different feel.
Tokyo at night with neon signs lighting up the elevated expressways is almost overwhelming in the best way.
Then you leave the city, drive into the bamboo groves and mountain passes of the Alps, and everything goes quiet and sharp and completely different.
The countryside is where the game gets genuinely beautiful — small shrine gates appearing through the trees, ocean edges with no guardrail, roads that drop you into valleys you didn't know were there.
Playground's art director called Tokyo the most complex and intricate drivable space in series history. That's not marketing. Shibuya Crossing is in the game and feels genuinely chaotic. The C1 expressway loop is recreated and racing around it at night feels like a scene from a street racing movie.
The seasonal system is back and Japan gives it more material than any previous setting. Spring cherry blossoms line the mountain roads. Summer brings heat haze and typhoon-style weather events. Autumn turns the countryside amber.
Winter covers Hokkaido in proper snow that actually affects handling. The transitions between seasons aren't just visual — they change how the world sounds and how the roads behave under your tyres.
The map is so good it almost doesn't matter what else is in the game. Almost.
Touge Battles Are the Best New Feature in Years
Every Forza Horizon game introduces something new. Sometimes it lands, sometimes it doesn't. Touge battles land so hard they should be in the next game, the game after that, and probably every Horizon game forever.
Touge is Japanese mountain pass racing. One-on-one. Downhill. Narrow roads. No margin for error. The culture around it — Initial D, the Hakone and Haruna passes — is legendary in car circles worldwide. Playground Games put both Hakone and Haruna in the game, faithfully recreated, and built a whole race mode around them.
You and one opponent. Narrow mountain road. Points system based on gap between cars — pull ahead and you earn points, fall behind and you lose them. One sloppy corner and the gap opens. One perfect sequence of corners and you can close it back down.
It is tense in a way that Forza Horizon has never been before. The usual open-road events have room for error.
Touge has almost none. Coming through a hairpin clean at night with your headlights just catching the barrier feels like a completely different game from the wide motorway sprints the series built its name on.
This mode alone justifies the Japan setting. It couldn't exist anywhere else.
Night Street Racing and the Discover Japan System
Two more things other reviews are glossing over.
Night street racing is exactly what it sounds like. Open roads. Marked only by flares at the edge of the tarmac. No overhead lighting beyond what your headlights pick up. The atmosphere is genuinely difficult to manufacture and Playground nailed it completely.
Racing through Tokyo streets at night, navigating by headlights and the glow of the city behind you, feels cinematic without trying to be. It's just the natural result of putting the right car, the right road, and the right time of day together.
Discover Japan is the game's secondary progression system running parallel to the Festival. Less about crossing the finish line first, more about exploring and actually experiencing Japan as a place.
Food delivery challenges on a bicycle. Landmark photography. Smashing mascot statues scattered across the map. Finding barn finds in rural areas that hide some of the most interesting cars in the game. All of it feeds into stamps — unlock enough stamps and new activities open up, including barn rumors that lead to genuinely surprising vehicles.
It's the game acknowledging that some players just want to cruise around Japan and take photos and that's completely valid and here are 40 hours of content for exactly that.
550+ Cars — And the Roster Actually Makes Sense
Day one. 550+ cars. That's a franchise record.
But more important than the number is the curation. Japan as a setting gave Playground a reason to go deep on JDM in a way no previous game could justify. And they went very deep.
The obvious heroes are here — Nissan Skyline GT-R in multiple generations, Toyota Supra A80, Mazda RX-7 FD, Honda NSX, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution — but so are the obscure stuff that car nerds will lose their minds over.
Kei cars. Japanese vans. Old Datsuns. Rare homologation specials. Cars that have never appeared in a Forza game before and probably would never have made it in without Japan as the setting to justify their inclusion.
The cover cars are the 2025 GR GT Prototype — making its video game debut here — and the 2025 Toyota Land Cruiser. Both are excellent showcase pieces.
The GR GT Prototype especially belongs on a shortlist of the most visually aggressive cars Playground has ever modelled.
Players with previous Horizon game history on their Gamertag can claim reward cars from past games — the Mercedes-AMG One from FH5, the Aston Martin Vulcan from FH4, the Lamborghini Centenario from FH3, and more.
It's a nice nod to long-term fans.
Driving Feel — Mostly Great, One Honest Caveat
The handling model is the most sophisticated Horizon has ever shipped.
On default settings with assists it's playful and accessible — the traditional Horizon feel, approachable for everyone, never punishing beginners for being beginners.
Strip the assists back and something genuinely different emerges. Weight transfer is more present. The relationship between throttle and rear grip is more honest.
Snow and ice carry real consequences. Touge battles on zero assists require actual car control — you can't just point and go.
The engine audio overhaul is a standout achievement. Remastered sounds for a broad selection of cars, new acoustic modelling that simulates how sound behaves in tunnels and confined spaces.
Drive into an underpass and the engine note changes in a way it never did before. Drive out and it changes back. It's a small thing that says a lot about the level of craft here.
The honest caveat: on default settings the handling is very smooth. Maybe too smooth. Almost sanitized in places. GamesRadar called it "a bit too safe" and that's fair.
If you've been spoiled by the simulation-leaning edge of games like Assetto Corsa, you'll feel the ceiling of what FH6 asks of you on tarmac. It's a deliberate choice — Playground isn't trying to be Gran Turismo — but it's worth knowing before you buy.
The Campaign — Great Structure, Bland Dialogue
The tourist-to-legend campaign structure is the best Horizon has had. Clear progression, rewards that feel meaningful, a logical reason to keep pushing through ranks.
The Horizon Rush showcase events — one-off spectacle races that unlock at key milestones — are where the campaign earns real highlights.
Racing a giant mech through Tokyo. A wet night sprint against motorcycle racers on a closed mountain road. These events are curated around fixed parameters in a way the open-world usually can't be, and they're better for it.
The catch: showcase events peak too soon. The mech race is the standout and it comes early. The later showcases diminish in spectacle until the final one feels like a mild letdown compared to what came before.
And then there's the dialogue. PC Gamer called it "bland" and full of "trite platitudes and empty positivity." That's exactly right.
The cutscene writing is the weakest part of the game. Characters are fine. The story is forgettable. Nobody's playing Horizon for narrative depth but the dialogue here is noticeably below average even by the series' own modest standards.
It's very much a "second screen" experience — great to have on, not something you're going to remember.
Legend Island and the Goliath Race
Earn your Gold Wristband — which requires 32,500 Horizon Festival Points and beating the final Horizon Legend Event — and a whole new section of the map unlocks.
Legend Island is the endgame. A dedicated area for R-class builds and the hardest events in the game. The roads here demand proper tuning.
Tiny changes in aero and gearing matter in a way they don't in the casual mid-game events. Bring an Aston Martin Valkyrie or similar and you'll start to understand what the handling model is actually capable of when pushed.
The headline content is The Goliath — roughly 80km per lap, making it nearly 50% longer than the Goliath in FH5. A full lap at race pace takes 20-25 minutes.
It uses the entire map as a circuit, which means by the time you get here you'll know every road section from exploration and it all comes together as one massive test of consistency and car control.
The Goliath pays well. It stacks XP fast. It's the perfect place to test tunes for hours without getting bored. And finishing it clean — really clean, no walls, no traffic incidents — feels like a genuine accomplishment.
The Monetization — Fair Enough, but Worth Naming
Forza Horizon 6 launched at $70 for the Standard Edition. Premium Edition is $100 and gets you four days of early access plus the Car Pass and DLC expansions.
The Car Pass adds additional cars in monthly drops. There are cosmetic bundles on top. There's a seasonal Festival Playlist that locks some car rewards behind weekly challenges — miss the window, miss the car.
None of this is predatory by the standards of the industry in 2026. The base game has 550+ cars which is enormous value. You don't need the Car Pass to have an excellent time. The seasonal content FOMO is real but mild.
The layering of premium early access on top of premium editions on top of Car Passes on top of DLC bundles is still a structure worth naming honestly. Playground Games makes a brilliant game. Xbox monetizes it aggressively. Both things are true.
On Game Pass — which includes the Standard Edition on day one — the value equation is completely different and completely unambiguous. Play it tonight.
What Doesn't Work
The showcase events peak early and fade. The final ones don't match the energy of the mech race in Tokyo.
The campaign dialogue is genuinely bad. Bland characters, empty positivity, forgettable story. Skip the cutscenes.
The XP grind for the Gold Wristband takes longer than the progression bar suggests. Around 20 hours in you may run out of interesting fresh content before you've unlocked Legend Island. There's a mid-game drag where the most exciting stuff is ahead of you but the bar isn't moving fast enough to get there.
Tokyo can look slightly flat in some areas even on maximum settings. Playground were honest about this — Tokyo is designed to be driven through fast, not photographed from every angle. The countryside is where the visual fidelity really shines.
FAQs
Is Forza Horizon 6 on Game Pass?
Yes. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass both include the Standard Edition from day one, May 19, 2026. Not available on Game Pass Essential or the Starter tier.
Is it coming to PS5?
Yes, but later. A PS5 version has been confirmed for post-launch 2026. No specific date announced yet.
Do I need to play previous Forza Horizon games first?
No. Every Horizon game is standalone. You can jump straight into FH6 without any prior experience.
How long is Forza Horizon 6?
The main campaign to Gold Wristband is around 30-40 hours. With Discover Japan, seasonal content, online, and Legend Island endgame you're looking at 100+ hours of quality content. Full completion is well beyond that.
What's the Goliath Race?
The endgame event unlocked via Legend Island. About 80km per lap — nearly 50% longer than FH5's version. One lap takes 20-25 minutes. It uses the entire map as a single circuit.
Is it worth $70?
Yes. 550+ cars, 100+ hours of content, the best open-world racing map ever made. If you're on Game Pass it's a free download. Either way it's worth it.
Is FH6 better than FH5?
In almost every way. The map is denser, the car roster is bigger, the new race types are better, the progression is more structured. FH5 was gorgeous. FH6 is better.
Will there be DLC?
Yes. Car Pass included in Premium Edition with monthly car drops. Additional DLC expansions expected throughout 2026.
