Forza Horizon 5 Preview Reactions: "Familiar", "Evolutionary", and "4 With Cacti"

  • Thread starter Famine
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Familiar/similar to FH4 is not a good thing. Feels uninspiring.
this game is just the previous game with some new stuff to do.

The studios responsible are clearly aware of this balance, because if you're wanting anything remotely new in this instalment, you're not going to get it.

www.pcgamer.com

Forza Horizon 5 is Forza Horizon 4 with cacti instead of hedgerows

The new instalment doesn't screw with the series formula.
www.pcgamer.com www.pcgamer.com
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Will put the $$$ away for GT and a PS5 instead I guess. Maybe I'll pick it up in the future when it's heavily discounted.
 
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The Horizon series has been up and down for me. Loved 1, lost a lot of interest early on into 2, got heavily back into 3, played 4 b/c of Game Pass & liked it, but nowhere to the degree of 3. I'm not sure if FH5 will swing my long term enjoyment upwards as an improvement upon 4, or end up feeling more of the same resulting in me losing interest even quicker. I think the result of having Game Pass is the only reason I'm willing to find out; otherwise, I'd probably decide to just pass on it and not gamble my money.
 
ykiki
Since I really enjoyed FH4, I'm perfectly happy with an evolution and don't require a revolution.
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Agreed. I'm liking out FH5 is turning out with the graphics, content, and features that were displayed by PG and everyone playing the preview build (which isn't final btw). For me, FH5 already looks to be the best in the franchise via cross gen. And as someone who has played FH4 for two years, playing a new Horizon game always felt fresh to me because of the emphasis on car collecting, and with the new engine sounds, it's only to enhance that.

There really isn't a racing game like Forza out there for me. It used to be GT back when I was a GT fan, but that franchise just seems to be stick in a loophole in trying to cater to whatever audience it's after, thanks to GTS (ugh...) So FH5 being evolution of FH4 is fine by me as well, since everything else in the game has been improved magnificently over 4.
 
Similar to FH4 on the gameplay side is fine by me but the few thing I hated in FH4 seems to remain. The festival playlist system for new cars was way too repetitive in FH4 and I hope the new EventLab feature could fix that. Also having day 1 cars locked in wheelspins again is really annoying for me.
 
from the yt videos I saw the game looks fun to play. Nice car sounds and the map overall is nice. However the rest is really just a fh4 copy paste. What I hate the most is the traffic and the voice of characters. So cliche and reminds me of dora where she tries to teach me spanish lol.
 
I would not expect anything different from Forza. That is why I pre-ordered the Premium Edition pretty much blindfolded.

And I rather follow reviewers who actually play the game, like those small YouTubers who's main focus is the Forza series. Not snarky journos. They will give you the a real opinion, from someone who actually plays the game as a hobby to another.
 
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For me it's still an instant buy - even if it's FH4 with 'facelift' as it has been metioned. This is definitely NOT a bad thing. I've been playing FH4 (and FH3 before that) non-stop from the first day of it's release. There's too much variaty to be bored and also the graphics are king - I can't stop admiring all this beautiful scenery, and from what I've seen FH5 is miles ahead :)
 
Gonna get it day one BUT I won't play the playlist. Also according to the article, there's still damn clothes to win in the wheel spins!?

Edit: according to a guy called Eckinox from French YouTube, it seems like the Festival Playlist only requires 40% and 70-75% this time around, so I'll play it.

Another edit: Is it true it's possible to keep the Festival Playlist points for another time?
 
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Definitely no bad thing for me, and the tweaks to progression, the new festival gameplay styles and under the good audio and handling tweaks will be enough for me to enjoy personally. FH4 isn’t my personal favourite entry, I feel that more to do with the lack of diversity in the map more than anything, especially compared to FH3 which is comfortably my favourite Horizon game.

Also worth remembering that if it’s right about Turn 10 holding some stuff back that PG won’t be able to use until Forza Motorsport releases, then this was always going to be edging on the side of evolution rather than revolution. But again, not always a bad thing, it’s a solid banker for PG and Microsoft.
 
I predicted that this one would be a 'meh' game on first reviews. I just can't get excited for it unless there's a straight motorway without the 'kink' (looking at you fh4). And i can also predict i'll have to start from 15th or wherever it is as usual because they cba to make an optional test run/quali before the race. I probably will pick this one up at some point but might be hard to justify purchasing early for those prices. (up to £85 for what is essentially a new map?)

Hmm, unless some of you here could convince me to pre order and why? ;)
 
I mean yeah,I've noticed some similarities but I'm of the school if it (mostly) ain't broke,also the graphics look decent and while I am annoyed at cars being locked behind the festival play list,I'm totally okay with this.
 
I've been saying the same things about the series but as soon as I do everybody hates it. My signature is what it is for a very good reason. The modern games are a shallow imitation of the first two games. They have brilliant engines, look rather nice (although 4 looked a bit boring in places because of the lack of variety, which FH5 is thankfully fixing), and the selection of cars is nice, but the games do not justify their own existences. All of the new content could have been added to Forza Horizon 2 or 3. The series has no personality anymore, which makes me look at the first game, which was horribly flawed and horrifically ugly, with even more love for trying something new and having actual progression and incentive to keep playing. There is no reason to complete Forza Horizon 4 because the game hands you everything on a plate from the start. I have between 60 and 70 million in the bank in that game, and no idea what I'm supposed to do with it. I have almost every car in the game. And I couldn't care less about it.

It's just not the same anymore. It's a fun sandbox, and my friends have had loads of fun with the games (particularly 2 on the Xbox 360 and 4) but, for me at least, I don't see a reason to buy Horizon 5. If I wanted a sandbox, there are loads of games that do it better. Minecraft, Train Simulator and Burnout Paradise for example. It will sell brilliantly and get critical acclaim (like pretty much every Copy+Paste title), but I'll have to pass on it. I paid £80 on Forza Horizon 4 and I didn't get what I paid for. I won't be making the same mistake again. For the money I'd spend on FH5, I could buy a handful of DLCs for Train Sim World and get a far more enriching, enjoyable experience, made by developers who care about their game. So, naturally, this is the choice I'm making. I could spend £80 on FH5 for a game I've already played four times, or the TGV Réseau and other stuff I'll enjoy more.
 
Doomotron
I've been saying the same things about the series but as soon as I do everybody hates it. My signature is what it is for a very good reason. The modern games are a shallow imitation of the first two games. They have brilliant engines, look rather nice (although 4 looked a bit boring in places because of the lack of variety, which FH5 is thankfully fixing), and the selection of cars is nice, but the games do not justify their own existences. All of the new content could have been added to Forza Horizon 2 or 3. The series has no personality anymore, which makes me look at the first game, which was horribly flawed and horrifically ugly, with even more love for trying something new and having actual progression and incentive to keep playing. There is no reason to complete Forza Horizon 4 because the game hands you everything on a plate from the start. I have between 60 and 70 million in the bank in that game, and no idea what I'm supposed to do with it. I have almost every car in the game. And I couldn't care less about it.

It's just not the same anymore. It's a fun sandbox, and my friends have had loads of fun with the games (particularly 2 on the Xbox 360 and 4) but, for me at least, I don't see a reason to buy Horizon 5. If I wanted a sandbox, there are loads of games that do it better. Minecraft, Train Simulator and Burnout Paradise for example. It will sell brilliantly and get critical acclaim (like pretty much every Copy+Paste title), but I'll have to pass on it. I paid £80 on Forza Horizon 4 and I didn't get what I paid for. I won't be making the same mistake again. For the money I'd spend on FH5, I could buy a handful of DLCs for Train Sim World and get a far more enriching, enjoyable experience, made by developers who care about their game. So, naturally, this is the choice I'm making. I could spend £80 on FH5 for a game I've already played four times, or the TGV Réseau and other stuff I'll enjoy more.
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Haha, I guess you were right about your signature - your opinion is slightly offensive to me - and others that like the game, so, in a way, we are inferior (I'd like to use another word here) because we enjoy it.

But, to provide a proper answer - it's a game. A really fun game, a way to pass your time having fun. I also play games that are not fun (Returnal, etc), but when I want to relax I play FH4.

I've already played 200h+ so it definitely got it's worth its pricetag. For you to have earned 70m in total, you must have played a fair amount of this sandbox as well. Also, try to associate the cost with the amount of development time/manpower/effort spent to be provided all this content and variety.

There are games that cost the same and provide a lot less just make a comparison between this and the Hotwheels Unleashed that just released - slightly cheaper, but content-wise, quality-wise, performance-wise and finish quality I find it to be a lot inferior.

Last, but not least, keep in mind that they still support if with weekly updates, events, cars, etc.
 
scooterlord
your opinion is slightly offensive to me
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Okay, but why? He's talking about his experiences and impressions with the FH series, and unless you've played a direct role in some of the design decisions he speaks about because you're a senior PG employee there's no possible reason for you to take any amount of offence at that - no matter how slight.

Disagree with it and dislike it, sure. But offensive?
SomeGamer2021
Also according to the article, there's still damn clothes to win in the wheel spins!?
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From what I understand you can buy (in-game, not MT) clothing items that are common or rare, but the epic and legendary items are Wheelspin only.

I don't entirely agree with the reviewer who said the Wheelspin mechanism was like a light version of "poker machine" gambling. Gambling - and gacha - requires the input of money, whether real or virtual, but Wheelspins are merely a random (or the appearance of random) reward for time spent. Same as GT Sport and the Roulette Wheel of Misfortune, actually. I get that we're very sensitive about exposing kids to gambling, and quite right too (the only thing I block on social media is gambling accounts), but this isn't it.
HuskyGT
And I rather follow reviewers who actually play the game, like those small YouTubers who's main focus is the Forza series. Not snarky journos. They will give you the a real opinion, from someone who actually plays the game as a hobby to another.
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It rather looks like the "snarky journos" do also play FH4, otherwise it'd be a bit difficult for them to draw the comparisons between the two games as they have been. The ones blowing smoke about how exciting and wild and varied and pretty it is, or the ones absolutely dumping on it, without mentioning that it really does seem to be FH4 with small improvements and a new place to drive (whether you think this is a good thing or a bad one) are the ones who clearly haven't played both.

That said, the distribution of this preview has me scratching my head a bit. As you can tell from the fact we've not posted a preview review (umm... yeah), we didn't get access. Apparently neither did any site similar to ours - driving/racing game/sim outlets. However, MS gave access to US national newspapers, mainstream gaming outlets, and niche/specialist influencers and streamers, which seems like a weird spread.


Honestly, I'm still pretty keen on it, and whether we get a review code or not (and the "not" would be really weird, but it happens) we'll give it a good workout.
 
Doomotron
I've been saying the same things about the series but as soon as I do everybody hates it. My signature is what it is for a very good reason. The modern games are a shallow imitation of the first two games. They have brilliant engines, look rather nice (although 4 looked a bit boring in places because of the lack of variety, which FH5 is thankfully fixing), and the selection of cars is nice, but the games do not justify their own existences. All of the new content could have been added to Forza Horizon 2 or 3. The series has no personality anymore, which makes me look at the first game, which was horribly flawed and horrifically ugly, with even more love for trying something new and having actual progression and incentive to keep playing. There is no reason to complete Forza Horizon 4 because the game hands you everything on a plate from the start. I have between 60 and 70 million in the bank in that game, and no idea what I'm supposed to do with it. I have almost every car in the game. And I couldn't care less about it.

It's just not the same anymore. It's a fun sandbox, and my friends have had loads of fun with the games (particularly 2 on the Xbox 360 and 4) but, for me at least, I don't see a reason to buy Horizon 5. If I wanted a sandbox, there are loads of games that do it better. Minecraft, Train Simulator and Burnout Paradise for example. It will sell brilliantly and get critical acclaim (like pretty much every Copy+Paste title), but I'll have to pass on it. I paid £80 on Forza Horizon 4 and I didn't get what I paid for. I won't be making the same mistake again. For the money I'd spend on FH5, I could buy a handful of DLCs for Train Sim World and get a far more enriching, enjoyable experience, made by developers who care about their game. So, naturally, this is the choice I'm making. I could spend £80 on FH5 for a game I've already played four times, or the TGV Réseau and other stuff I'll enjoy more.
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I'm far more in agreement with you than not. Horizon 4 dissapointed me, I mean technically it's a great game, good graphics, great map, great car list and the seasons mix it up. But whenever I boot it up I find that after a short time with the game I just feel disengaged, and I think it has a lot to do with the fact you aren't really working towards anything. Progression is just far too easy and you get cars and credits thrown at you at such an alarming rate you never feel like you've earned that new car or worked for it.

The content locked behind timed Forzathon events also irks me no end, it's a crappy artificial way to "encourage" people to keep adding to their x-players-still-play-this-game-every-week stat. It creates a pressure to load the game for fear of missing out and when you do load the game it creates a pressure to do the timed event rather than what you actually want to do. Doesn't work on me, but it's a crappy crappy tactic.

I'm not a fan of needless grinding, but I'm not a fan of the opposite extreme either where it takes none or next to no effort to unlock things. A good balance is needed, yet seems to be becoming a rarer thing to find in games. I understand there is a market for sandboxes, but if I have FH4, why do I need FH5. It looks like it's literally the same thing just on a different map, so I can carry on boring myself in FH4 and save my cash.

I completely agree with @Famine regarding the wheelspins as well, it's not gambling and nothing like a poker machine. You aren't putting anything on the line. There's only a risk that you won't win the best prize availalbe in that spin, but you win something without it costing you anything no matter what the prize is.
 
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It's same game every time, the changes and additions are patch worthy at best, the series already felt stale at FH3 for me, FH4 I couldn't keep interested for more than a dozen hours. They need something radically new, not just another boring desert location.
 
Famine
From what I understand you can buy (in-game, not MT) clothing items that are common or rare, but the epic and legendary items are Wheelspin only.

I don't entirely agree with the reviewer who said the Wheelspin mechanism was like a light version of "poker machine" gambling. Gambling - and gacha - requires the input of money, whether real or virtual, but Wheelspins are merely a random (or the appearance of random) reward for time spent. Same as GT Sport and the Roulette Wheel of Misfortune, actually. I get that we're very sensitive about exposing kids to gambling, and quite right too (the only thing I block on social media is gambling accounts), but this isn't it.
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Wait, a reviewer said Wheelspins were almost like gambling??? :lol: Psh, haha...

Good to know some ordinary/rare clothes are up for buying with credits. This way I won't have to wait to get basic nerd glasses for my avatar! :D

Thanks for the info! 👍
 
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scooterlord
What I mean was that if someone calls boring what I call exciting then in a way I am boring myself.
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Only to people who find what you like boring :D

I mean, a lot of people think gaming generally is just a sad, weird way to spend time, but us gamers bloody love it. We're not sad and weird just because people think our hobby is sad and weird; they probably like things we think are sad and weird, like the Kardashians and "reality" TV game shows.

If you're secure in yourself, it doesn't matter what those sad weirdoes think about you :D
 
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McLaren
The Horizon series has been up and down for me. Loved 1, lost a lot of interest early on into 2, got heavily back into 3, played 4 b/c of Game Pass & liked it, but nowhere to the degree of 3. I'm not sure if FH5 will swing my long term enjoyment upwards as an improvement upon 4, or end up feeling more of the same resulting in me losing interest even quicker. I think the result of having Game Pass is the only reason I'm willing to find out; otherwise, I'd probably decide to just pass on it and not gamble my money.
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Very similar situation but instead I was into 1, loved 2, didn't really care for 3 and 4 was seen more or less the same as 3. I do have gamepass as well, but I'm going to initially pass just because I don't really feel like taking up so much memory on my SS for a game I'm not even fully invested in in the first place. Maybe if I get the SSD expansion I'll give it a try, but for now, it's on hold. More or less, the game has turned into a glorified photography simulator.

Doomotron
I've been saying the same things about the series but as soon as I do everybody hates it. My signature is what it is for a very good reason. The modern games are a shallow imitation of the first two games. They have brilliant engines, look rather nice (although 4 looked a bit boring in places because of the lack of variety, which FH5 is thankfully fixing), and the selection of cars is nice, but the games do not justify their own existences. All of the new content could have been added to Forza Horizon 2 or 3. The series has no personality anymore, which makes me look at the first game, which was horribly flawed and horrifically ugly, with even more love for trying something new and having actual progression and incentive to keep playing. There is no reason to complete Forza Horizon 4 because the game hands you everything on a plate from the start. I have between 60 and 70 million in the bank in that game, and no idea what I'm supposed to do with it. I have almost every car in the game. And I couldn't care less about it.
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This is more or less racing games in a nutshell, especially lately.
 
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Didn't expect that there've been significantly more varying opinions regarding Horizon here, unlike the near-perfect reputation it has.
MockngBrd
Familiar/similar to FH4 is not a good thing. Feels uninspiring.


Will put the $$$ away for GT and a PS5 instead I guess. Maybe I'll pick it up in the future when it's heavily discounted.
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Won't GT be the one that is even more notorious for being consistently familiar/similar to previous games?
MLRSparco
Forza Horizon has been regurgitating the same content since 2, Horizon has been long overdue for a overhaul because it feels nothing like 1 and 2.
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Probably because if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
 
FH4 was the first one for me, so I don't have any comparison. But with that said, I love it, and for me it's the best arcade racer out there. If FH5 is more of the same in a improved package, I'll be a happy camper.

I'm on Gamepass, so will 100% play it, and expecting to have good fun :)
 
o000o
Won't GT be the one that is even more notorious for being consistently familiar/similar to previous games?
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Definitely is, it's in the exact same boat really. So much so that the game the poster is talking about getting is reverting back to that familiar ground after trying to branch out a little bit.
 

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