I have an untested theory that a majority of those who play the Forza games, do not play any other videogame. Lately, this feels more true than ever — because no one who has Forza installed on their devices of choice, can practically play any other videogame. Forza Horizon 6, which is set in Japan, released in May and the entire install file size was a whole 150 GB. I had to delete a lot of old crap from my PC before I could download the game. I also completed multiple IRL side quests (laundry, cooking, actual driving) by the time the download and install was complete. If you don’t have an Xbox game pass subscription, there’s also the added consideration of figuring out if you want to spend `5,500 on the game, or renew the otherwise pointless subscription. All in all, this entire process took a day.
I’m probably the worst candidate for playing this latest Forza horizon game. I have a graphics card that’s six years old and barely hanging in there. And if this game is nothing else, all it has is incredible car and environmental graphics. I don’t really know or care that much about cars. And, I am one of the few people who isn’t all that fascinated by Japan (I’ve played too many Japan-based games to notice at this point). Despite all of these significant hurdles that could stop the average gamer from even trying out the game, I’d probably suggest you just do it anyway. Because playing the game is just so incredibly relaxing. I don’t smoke, but I’m pretty sure that loading up Forza in the middle of a stressful day is what a cigarette feels like.
Forza is a game that’s built for every kind of gamer. Do you like collecting achievements? Well here’s 50,000 credits for drifting off the top of a mountain! Do you enjoy just wandering around aimlessly? Then here’s another 50,000 credits because you just discovered new roads. What’s that, you just like shiny cars? Here’s a bunch of free ones for absolutely no reason at all!
The thing is, it hasn’t really changed, and maybe it doesn’t need to. I remember feeling the same way about FH4 and FH5, and now with this new one. I enjoy zooming past my friends’ ‘drivatars’ in races, and occasionally joining them in a convoy to go find new barns and complete missions together. There’s a certain inexplicable peace while I just turn on one of the classical music radio channels and drive past coasts and hair pin bends. Just doing nothing in the game is its own reward. It’s just a really unfussy driving simulator that releases a new edition map every few years.
My real problem with this game is that it could have been so much more. I’d have quite liked a semblance of a narrative in the game. I mean, street racing in cars is supposed to be incredibly dramatic; at least all the movies paint it that way! Forza’s dialogues and street races just seem so timid in comparison. A stronger narrative thread, and more big events would really elevate the game a lot more. It’s so inoffensive and agreeable that I’m often finding it a bit boring. The story-like events are also too few and far between. One of my favourite memories of a Forza game was racing against a train. These showpiece races are what make it so memorable and different. But that’s really it. There’s nothing to dislike, but there’s nothing to wow the average gamer either.
Forza Horizon 6 is the latest in Xbox’s flagship game series that reminds everyone that Microsoft Studios exists and can make a decent game every couple of years. It is currently available on the PC and Xbox. Release on other platforms comes later. It’s best played, obviously, with a controller (or better yet, those driving wheel shaped attachments). Anyone can play Forza. I’m serious — if there’s a toddler around you can hand them a controller, and ask them to drive around — they’d probably have a good time, and be good at the game too! If you’re simply looking to chill and don’t care about videogames all that much, you might be surprised by this game and actually like it.