For the past week, I’ve spent every evening speeding through the Japanese countryside, blasting Babymetal. Forza Horizon 6 Ostensibly a racing game, you play an up-and-coming driver with the intention of making a name for yourself. But, like the rest of the series, it’s an open world, in which you can spend as much — or, in my case, a lot more — time exploring while racing. And this is the factor that has improved considerably. Horizon 6. It’s a combination of composition and setting: The legendary take on Japan isn’t just the world’s largest map. horizon game, but it’s also incredibly diverse, and the game lets you approach it however you like. Horizon 6 From the glittering streets of Tokyo to the icy roads at the base of Mount Fuji, I won’t stop until I finish every single one of them.

The purpose stated in Horizon 6Like its predecessors, Horizon Festival has a progression up through the ranks, a connected series of driving events that span the same geographic area, in this case all of Japan. This can include everything from drag races to dirt tracks to stunts from precariously placed ramps on the side of a cliff. As you compete, you earn points, which you earn on your wrist which in turn unlocks more events where you can earn even more points. It’s relatively open-ended, allowing you to focus mostly on the competitions you enjoy or are good at and avoid the rest.

Or, if you’re like me, mostly avoid them all.

Based on the way I play Horizon 6all races and developments are a means to an end, and that end is driving cool cars around Japan. And you don’t have to spend so much time competing in Horizon Festival events to do it. Part of this is that almost the entire map is open to you from the start. As soon as I finished the game’s opening sequence, I went ahead and drove wherever I wanted. Aside from a fenced-in area that I believe represents some late-game races, I’ve yet to find a place I wasn’t able to get to.

Horizon 6 Encourages this kind of exploration. The game has two progress tracks: one includes the Horizon Festival events, and the other is called “Discover Japan”, which sounds like a tourism slogan and sort of is. Here you gain experience not by winning races or setting the best time, but by exploring everything. You get XP for traversing new roads, finding and smashing mascot characters (don’t worry, they’re statues), and doing various side quests that mostly go on road trips with virtual friends. In one storyline, you’re helping a photographer take incredible shots for a magazine cover; Otherwise, you’re testing the various experiences of a mechanic by driving over difficult terrain that you might otherwise overlook.

One of my favorite things to do involves finding a collection of hidden cars just based on pictures. You’re given a snapshot of a rare Porsche or BMW, which appears to be right next to a certain convenience store or within view of a certain bridge, and if you manage to find it, it’s all yours. These quests reminded me a lot of similar tracks in one of my favorite open world games, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildimmersing me in the world by avoiding map markers and forcing me to rely on my eyes. What all these quests and goals have in common is that they not only encourage you to explore, but reward you for it. They give you a sense of progress and accomplishment, even if you’re mostly just taking pictures of vending machines.

Of course, all this would be counterintuitive if Horizon 6 It wasn’t actually enjoyable to play, which thankfully it is. The game balances realism with accessibility, resulting in a driving experience that can be forgiving and arcadey at times, but still requires vehicular skill and understanding to compete at a high level. More importantly, the new location is perfectly compliant. The setting of an open-world game is almost always the most important aspect of the experience, and rightly so Horizon 6Japan’s offer.

It’s a video game version of Malik, condensed and completely redesigned for vehicle exploration. It can be a bit awkward at times. Driving through Shibuya Crossing, the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world, feels strange when there are no actual pedestrian crossings. But for the most part, Horizon 6of Japan captures the feel of the country, even if it’s not exactly a representation of it. That means you still get those iconic moments—riding through rain-soaked streets at night with the bright lights of Tokyo fading behind you—but in a package that feels manageable despite its large size. The map is also full of little secrets and collectibles that encourage you to go off the beaten path just for fun. And the radio stations, like the other games, are great, really adding to the road trip experience. My advice is to turn down the car sounds and turn up the music volume.

All that said, while I’ve largely given up on racing, I can attest that there are reasons to participate, even if you prefer the exploratory side of the sport. One is that you get really cool cars by winning big races. But at the same time, many of the big races have an incredibly cinematic vibe that feels like you’re speeding through a series of set pieces. Fast and Furious The movie is huge jumps, moving terrain and obstacles, and at one point — I kid you not — a race against a giant mech.

The best thing about Horizon 6 It’s that you can pick and choose how you want to experience it. You are not limited to any track. You can do whatever you find most interesting, whether it’s competing or exploring, and take the thread to new and interesting places. I’m sure for a lot of people that means the fastest cars and lots of first place trophies. me I’m content to drive a refurbished Nissan truck on the backwoods roads with Rise Against providing the soundtrack to my disastrous route.

_{Forza Horizon 6 Launches on Xbox and PC on May 19. A PS5 version is scheduled for later in 2026.}