Forza Horizon 6 Preview: A Dream Trip to Japan

April 8, 2026 Andrew Beckford

Since the very beginning of the series, fans have been asking, begging, and demanding a Forza Horizon game set in Japan, and in about a month, they’re finally going to get it with Forza Horizon 6. Though we’re happy to say that Xbox invited me to an early hands-on gameplay preview of the highly anticipated open-world racer, so I can give you my first impressions.

That being said, you should know that this is not a review. That will come later. Instead, I’m just sharing my thoughts based on my experience with the preview, which was not a complete build of the game. Got it? Good. Oh, I should also mention that I played the preview on an Xbox Series X console using a controller. Alright, let’s get into it!

Forza Horizon in Japan

Admittedly, booting up Forza Horizon 6 for the first time felt surreal. I’m old enough to remember fans calling for a Horizon Festival set in Japan ever since the first game in the series came out nearly 15 years ago. Now it’s finally happened, and it was almost hard to believe at first, even though it was right there in front of my face.

Just like every entry before it, Forza Horizon 6 comes out swinging with an intro race that provides an exciting appetizer to all the biomes, visuals, cars, and characters you’ll experience as you dump countless hours exploring Japan. Fittingly, it all starts behind the wheel of a Nissan R35 GT-R NISMO before jumping into a trophy truck for some snowy off-road action. Then, you’re behind the wheel of an RWB Porsche for a quick sprint, before finishing off in the Toyota GR-GT, which is also the official Forza Horizon 6 cover car.

Beautiful and Authentic

As I went through each phase of the opening drive, I kept my eyes peeled to try and pick out any immediately obvious visual upgrades over Forza Horizon 5. If I’m being honest, I wasn’t expecting much. Only because I thought that Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios already figured out how to squeeze all the performance out of Xbox Series consoles in the previous Horizon game, which is beautiful by the way.

However, I was pleasantly surprised. Specifically by the lighting and reflections off the cars, buildings, and plant life. Light was bouncing off the shiny surfaces and back into the camera, creating these flares that added a sense of warmth and realism. While Forza Horizon 6 isn’t quite at the same photo-real levels as some of the hardcore simulators out there, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t look amazing!

Each environment was a visual delight, from the neon-lit streets of Tokyo to the snow-capped mountains to the forest roads, all of which is rendered beautifully by the Series X with no noticeable frame dips or graphical glitches.

The visual fidelity really enhanced the sense of authenticity in every location. That’s also thanks in large part to Kyoko Yamashita, the cultural consultant who Playground Games enlisted to ensure it captured all the right details in its depiction of Japan. Unfortunately, I’ve never been to Japan myself, so I can’t make any personal comparisons, but it certainly feels like Yamashita nailed it.

Whether it was Mt Fuji looking over me as I discovered new roads or living out my Wangan Midnight dreams when racing on the city freeways at night, it felt like I was realizing all the wishfulfilment from a dream trip to Japan.

The Journey Begins

As mentioned in the initial reveal, Forza Horizon 6 starts off with your character needing to earn their way into the Horizon Festival. To do that, you’ll need to complete a series of qualifying events. You’ll start with three cars at your disposal: a Nissan S13 Silvia coupe, a Toyota Celica GT-Four or All-Trac, as it was known in the states, and a big honkin’ Chevy truck. Each vehicle is suited to the various qualifier events, so you’ll get a turn in all three before you’re done. Once you finish the qualifiers, you’ll get to run in the first showcase event and earn your first Festival wristband.

Since this is a preview build, the experience stops short of the showcase. That was a bit of a bummer, but the good news is I was still free to explore as much of the map as I wanted and some of the new features, like the garage customization.

There is a robust system for styling your garage spaces to your liking with a large library of furniture, props, tool boxes, and other items to make each space your own. Garage designs can also be shared with other players, so it’s safe to say that Playground Games is probably hoping that a community of creative space decorators will flourish the same way that the livery creator community does.

This image is just a part of the whole map

Massive Open World Map

The new map is massive. Even in this early build, it felt overwhelming in the best way. I can tell that there’s going to be so much to explore that it will take even the most hardcore players quite a while to see it all. It also looks like there is room for expansion. The prospect of which has me admittedly excited.

Another new feature is the mascots. Each district of the map is represented by a different mascot, most of which are modeled after Japanese foods like Ramen, Onigiri, and Dango skewers. They’re adorable, which made me feel kind of guilty for smashing through them, but that’s what you’re supposed to do when you see them!

While I didn’t get to explore the whole map, I did find some neat points of interest, like this giant mech overlooking the Horizon Festival, and I even found one of the new aftermarket discovery cars. These modified cars will pop up in different spots on the map, and if you can get there in time, you can buy them for a reasonable price, like this EK Honda Civic Type R I found in the shipping port.

Promising First Impression

I’m still reserving judgment, but I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this preview. I think what hits me hardest is the potential for Forza Horizon 6 to grow into something special as new features, expansions, and cars are added. I just know that I didn’t want the preview to end, and that’s a very good sign for a first impression. Hopefully, that momentum continues when we get the full game in for review, so stay tuned.