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Originally, no one ever thought that a Forza title would come to PlayStation, but around the end of 2024 was when Microsoft started the marketing campaign of "This is an Xbox", which referred to the Xbox brand not just being the consoles, but also a platform, from the consoles themselves to PC's, smartphones, tablets and even TV's.
Little did people know that this would even lead to Xbox abandoning their exclusives strategy and jump ship to rival consoles, the most notable of which would be on PlayStation.
Then come the end of January 2025, the whole world was shocked and surprised to see and hear Forza Horizon 5 coming to PS5, where previously, it was unthinkable for Forza to ever come to PlayStation, yet here we are. It felt so surreal thinking that hell had finally frozen over.
Given the marketing tagline, this would have meant that the PlayStation 5 has become an Xbox, if not, "the proverbial Xbox".
Three months later (April 24th), a day before the release of the Premium edition for the PS5 version, I was lucky enough to redeem a code for the Premium edition of the game and the Add-ons bundle pack through a giveaway, which meant the only things I needed to pay for were the Treasure Map and the car packs not covered by the Car Pass. Having already played the Xbox/PC version since day one, I tried to see what the game was like on PS5.
It still felt wildly unreal though, to think I'd be playing Forza on a PlayStation console.
But before then, I had to fix my PS5 as its liquid metal was already worn out and the internals were dusty, which led to it shutting down without any overheat warnings every 30-45 minutes. When it was fixed, that's when I knew I can finally enjoy FH5 on my PS5 full-time.
When the PS5 version of the game released, there was already a feature update called "Horizon Realms" which allowed players to revisit former Evolving World landmarks from updates past, as FH5 was already at the climax of its development; no new cars and features were planned other than returning Festival Playlist themes. So the PS5 version was after all, one last hurrah for Horizon Mexico.
And because FH5 wasn't designed as a cross-save title from the get-go (except for Xbox/PC, it's not possible for Steam and PS5), this meant I had to start the entire game from scratch and build my car collection again after having more than 800+ on the Xbox Series X version.
It was business as usual: conquering all the races, Horizon Stories, Showcases, PR stunts, smashing all the bonus boards, discovering all the roads, finding all Barn Finds, and completing both the Hot Wheels and Rally Adventure expansions, and doing all that before the game's true finale: the Horizon Mexico Goliath.
Then usually, every week, I always tried to get every reward car I could through the Festival Playlist, but because of the FOMO-heavy nature of it, it became a tiring chore to play (I even had to endure this on the Xbox Series X version, and I think everyone can agree: majority of players don't take too kindly to FOMO mechanics, and people use valid reasons like work, school or being away from home as factors why they miss out Festival Playlist rewards.
There was only one Festival Playlist theme I missed (the later half though) during the Christmas season as I went to Europe last Christmas, which meant I missed out on at least three reward cars then.
Throughout these eleven months of me playing, not only was I collecting cars, but also trophy hunting, and there came a time where online multiplayer was free for a short and brief period which allowed me to get some online trophies along the way. But come a few months later, from the beginning of this month (March 2026), I was able to buy a month's worth of a PlayStation Plus subscription to really work on the two remaining base game trophies that are considered the worst and most annoying, such as:
Min, Meet Max - (Requires you to play through a full month's worth of the Festival Playlist and complete every non-expansion activity; if you miss out on one activity, then you're as good as doomed and will have to wait for next month's playlist)
Chicken Dinner - (Requires you to win the Eliminator at least once)
Alongside getting Platinum for Tekken 8 and Gran Turismo 7, I was determined to get Platinum for Forza Horizon 5 before the game's one-year anniversary on PS5 (also before the release of Forza Horizon 6 this May), and after having so many doubts, things started to look good when I got the "Min, Meet Max" trophy last week, as well as all trophies for the Hot Wheels Expansion (two missions require online gameplay) and Rally Adventure (purely offline) but Eliminator was the last obstacle I needed to finally achieve the dream of Platinum just before then.
Basically, the Eliminator is Fortnite but with cars. You roam around the map, scavenging for car drops, while trying to be the last one standing, however, you can challenge other opponents to impromptu one-on-one races, and defeating them in races would basically be "killing" them and scavenging their car for you to use later on.
It felt like it was more on luck than skill, but my luck later hit its stride in the most unexpected way possible, where I stayed idle at the edge of the map for most of the time until I got a 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI (a level 4 car for the Eliminator), and basically waited for everyone to kill each other until there were like four drivers left, including myself.
Then as head-to-heads were disabled, I immediately drove out of the circle, and little did I know that I actually went off to a great start, and the others struggled to keep up.
My heart was beating as fast as it could, although victory was within my grasp. Then moments later, I heard the announcer say "Welcome to the shadowy ranks of... the Eliminati", which signaled that I won my first (and only) Eliminator, thus handing me the Platinum of Forza Horizon 5, nearly 11 months after its release on PlayStation 5 - a major victory on a game no one ever saw coming to the console, and one Platinum I never expected to get since Stellar Blade, but eventually did so with both games.
And now I'm sitting at 135 out of 165 trophies, including the Platinum, with the base game, Hot Wheels Expansion and Rally Adventure Expansion complete, with no intention of completing the filler "Live" trophies, as I am quite beat.
It turns out the impossible is very much possible after all, and makes you believe anything can happen.
This was also a good preparation for Forza Horizon 6 coming later this year (I pre-ordered the Premium edition for Xbox Series X, as the PS5 version is coming much later after launch).
My journey in Horizon Mexico has come to an end, and came with some bittersweet memories. It was one hell of a wild ride, and it sure is tough to say goodbye, but soon, I'll have to pack my bags, book a plane ticket, and say hello to Horizon Japan when FH6 is finally out.
Little did people know that this would even lead to Xbox abandoning their exclusives strategy and jump ship to rival consoles, the most notable of which would be on PlayStation.
Then come the end of January 2025, the whole world was shocked and surprised to see and hear Forza Horizon 5 coming to PS5, where previously, it was unthinkable for Forza to ever come to PlayStation, yet here we are. It felt so surreal thinking that hell had finally frozen over.
Given the marketing tagline, this would have meant that the PlayStation 5 has become an Xbox, if not, "the proverbial Xbox".
Three months later (April 24th), a day before the release of the Premium edition for the PS5 version, I was lucky enough to redeem a code for the Premium edition of the game and the Add-ons bundle pack through a giveaway, which meant the only things I needed to pay for were the Treasure Map and the car packs not covered by the Car Pass. Having already played the Xbox/PC version since day one, I tried to see what the game was like on PS5.
It still felt wildly unreal though, to think I'd be playing Forza on a PlayStation console.
But before then, I had to fix my PS5 as its liquid metal was already worn out and the internals were dusty, which led to it shutting down without any overheat warnings every 30-45 minutes. When it was fixed, that's when I knew I can finally enjoy FH5 on my PS5 full-time.
When the PS5 version of the game released, there was already a feature update called "Horizon Realms" which allowed players to revisit former Evolving World landmarks from updates past, as FH5 was already at the climax of its development; no new cars and features were planned other than returning Festival Playlist themes. So the PS5 version was after all, one last hurrah for Horizon Mexico.
And because FH5 wasn't designed as a cross-save title from the get-go (except for Xbox/PC, it's not possible for Steam and PS5), this meant I had to start the entire game from scratch and build my car collection again after having more than 800+ on the Xbox Series X version.
It was business as usual: conquering all the races, Horizon Stories, Showcases, PR stunts, smashing all the bonus boards, discovering all the roads, finding all Barn Finds, and completing both the Hot Wheels and Rally Adventure expansions, and doing all that before the game's true finale: the Horizon Mexico Goliath.
Then usually, every week, I always tried to get every reward car I could through the Festival Playlist, but because of the FOMO-heavy nature of it, it became a tiring chore to play (I even had to endure this on the Xbox Series X version, and I think everyone can agree: majority of players don't take too kindly to FOMO mechanics, and people use valid reasons like work, school or being away from home as factors why they miss out Festival Playlist rewards.
There was only one Festival Playlist theme I missed (the later half though) during the Christmas season as I went to Europe last Christmas, which meant I missed out on at least three reward cars then.
Throughout these eleven months of me playing, not only was I collecting cars, but also trophy hunting, and there came a time where online multiplayer was free for a short and brief period which allowed me to get some online trophies along the way. But come a few months later, from the beginning of this month (March 2026), I was able to buy a month's worth of a PlayStation Plus subscription to really work on the two remaining base game trophies that are considered the worst and most annoying, such as:
Min, Meet Max - (Requires you to play through a full month's worth of the Festival Playlist and complete every non-expansion activity; if you miss out on one activity, then you're as good as doomed and will have to wait for next month's playlist)
Chicken Dinner - (Requires you to win the Eliminator at least once)
Alongside getting Platinum for Tekken 8 and Gran Turismo 7, I was determined to get Platinum for Forza Horizon 5 before the game's one-year anniversary on PS5 (also before the release of Forza Horizon 6 this May), and after having so many doubts, things started to look good when I got the "Min, Meet Max" trophy last week, as well as all trophies for the Hot Wheels Expansion (two missions require online gameplay) and Rally Adventure (purely offline) but Eliminator was the last obstacle I needed to finally achieve the dream of Platinum just before then.
Basically, the Eliminator is Fortnite but with cars. You roam around the map, scavenging for car drops, while trying to be the last one standing, however, you can challenge other opponents to impromptu one-on-one races, and defeating them in races would basically be "killing" them and scavenging their car for you to use later on.
It felt like it was more on luck than skill, but my luck later hit its stride in the most unexpected way possible, where I stayed idle at the edge of the map for most of the time until I got a 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI (a level 4 car for the Eliminator), and basically waited for everyone to kill each other until there were like four drivers left, including myself.
Then as head-to-heads were disabled, I immediately drove out of the circle, and little did I know that I actually went off to a great start, and the others struggled to keep up.
My heart was beating as fast as it could, although victory was within my grasp. Then moments later, I heard the announcer say "Welcome to the shadowy ranks of... the Eliminati", which signaled that I won my first (and only) Eliminator, thus handing me the Platinum of Forza Horizon 5, nearly 11 months after its release on PlayStation 5 - a major victory on a game no one ever saw coming to the console, and one Platinum I never expected to get since Stellar Blade, but eventually did so with both games.
And now I'm sitting at 135 out of 165 trophies, including the Platinum, with the base game, Hot Wheels Expansion and Rally Adventure Expansion complete, with no intention of completing the filler "Live" trophies, as I am quite beat.
It turns out the impossible is very much possible after all, and makes you believe anything can happen.
This was also a good preparation for Forza Horizon 6 coming later this year (I pre-ordered the Premium edition for Xbox Series X, as the PS5 version is coming much later after launch).
My journey in Horizon Mexico has come to an end, and came with some bittersweet memories. It was one hell of a wild ride, and it sure is tough to say goodbye, but soon, I'll have to pack my bags, book a plane ticket, and say hello to Horizon Japan when FH6 is finally out.
