Forza Horizon 6 Early Reviews Point to a Stunning Racer With a Few Empty Roads
Early Forza Horizon 6 reviews are now arriving, and the overall reaction is largely positive. The latest entry in the open-world racing series appears to deliver exactly what fans expect: gorgeous visuals, smooth driving, detailed environments, and a strong technical foundation. However, not every impression has been glowing, with some reviewers and players pointing out that the game world can feel surprisingly quiet in places.
One of the biggest talking points is the new Japan-inspired setting, with Tokyo standing out as a major highlight. The city has been recreated with impressive attention to detail, offering neon-lit streets, wide highways, dense urban scenery, and a strong sense of atmosphere. Visually, Forza Horizon 6 looks like one of the most polished racing games of the current generation.
Still, the beauty of the world has led to one repeated criticism: the roads can feel too empty. Several early impressions mention that traffic density seems low, especially given the urban setting. With Tokyo being such a busy and iconic location in real life, some players expected more crowded streets and a stronger sense of city life. This feedback also appeared after the first gameplay footage was shown, suggesting it may be one of the more noticeable drawbacks for players hoping for a more alive open world.
On Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, Forza Horizon 6 reportedly runs well and maintains strong image quality. The console versions appear to offer a smooth experience, although pop-in is still present in some areas. The issue seems less distracting than in Forza Horizon 5, but it has not been completely eliminated. Another difference is ray tracing. While consoles do include visual enhancements, the full ray tracing feature set appears to be reserved for the PC version.
The festival setup has also drawn mixed reactions. While the Japan setting is new, the overall festival presentation reportedly feels very similar to Forza Horizon 5’s Mexico festival. For long-time fans, that familiarity may be comfortable, but others may feel the series is playing things a little too safe in terms of structure and presentation.
On PC, Forza Horizon 6 looks technically impressive, but demanding settings can put serious pressure on graphics cards with limited VRAM. Testing with the RTX 5060 Ti shows a clear gap between 8 GB and 16 GB VRAM models. At 1080p using DLSS Quality and the Extreme preset with ray tracing enabled, the 8 GB version struggles to reach 60 FPS. The 16 GB version performs much better, averaging in the low 70 FPS range and delivering around 56% faster performance in that scenario.
This suggests that Forza Horizon 6 can use around 12 GB of VRAM when pushed to higher settings with ray tracing. Players using GPUs with 8 GB of VRAM may need to lower certain options to achieve a smoother experience, especially if they want to keep ray tracing enabled.
The good news is that the game still looks excellent without maxing out every setting. Using the Extreme preset without ray tracing, combined with TAA, can deliver a strong visual experience while improving performance. At 1080p, this setup can average around 64 FPS, making it a practical starting point for players with mid-range hardware or limited VRAM.
Frame generation also appears to provide a major boost. With 4x frame generation enabled, frame rates can climb beyond 120 FPS, offering a much smoother experience for supported systems. This makes Forza Horizon 6 more flexible on PC, allowing players to balance image quality, responsiveness, and overall performance depending on their hardware.
Based on early reviews and performance impressions, Forza Horizon 6 is shaping up to be another strong entry in the franchise. It offers beautiful graphics, polished driving, solid optimization, and a fresh Japanese setting that many fans have wanted for years. At the same time, the sparse traffic, familiar festival structure, and demanding ray tracing requirements may leave some players wanting more.
Forza Horizon 6 launches on May 19 for Xbox consoles and PC. For racing fans, open-world driving enthusiasts, and players looking for a visually impressive showcase, it looks like one of the most exciting racing game releases of the year.
