So first off, I’m not even sure if I’d even be able to run this game on its lowest settings. My desktop build is a decade-plus old at this point, which means there’s nothing in here that’s even worth attempting to upgrade, and unfortunately I’m not in a financial position right now to attempt a full-fledged new build. (I don’t even want to think about what hardware prices are like right now…shudder) My video card is older than the minimum listed, though it has the same amount of VRAM, but the real problem would probably be storage. The Steam page notes “SSD required,” and this rig only has a 320 GB SATA SSD that’s half-full. I’m not sure I could eke out enough space on it to install it there. Now it does have a 3TB HDD with plenty of space left, but I don’t want to think about how bad the data-streaming would be from that, since it was already causing some issues with FH5.
But even beyond all that I was extremely disappointed to learn that the game was forging ahead with the FOMO-driven Playlist model, which just…well, it sucks. I grew to loathe feeling forced to play 4 and 5 every single week to get whatever rewards I don’t have, and it’s stuck with me enough that I’m still completing 5’s Playlist tasks every single week despite there being no practical benefit for doing so. It always felt more like a job than a game, and it actively prevented me from playing some parts of the game that I actually wanted to, because by the time I was done with the Playlist each week I’d feel burned out on the game for the moment. I really hoped they’d pull a fresh new start with 6 after seeing how many people have complained about this model over the years, but I guess my hopes were in vain.
I do the playlist each week still because there is nothing else to do. I’d still be playing more if there were some actual endgame.
Yeah I haven’t committed to a purchase yet either. I probably will. In spite of how disappointing FH6 looks in terms of being more of the same mistakes and gaps in gameplay, I still have a hard time resisting a driving sandbox, and the infuriating spiral of horrible gameplay design doesn’t stop it from being the best open world racing game on the market. I say it because it’s true, but what a sad, sorry, and dissapointing state of affairs that’s become.
What I won’t be doing is encouraging others to get the game. Close friends plus I’m an admin for a mid-sized but tight discord gaming community. Probably talking around 10 people willing to buy or pass based on recommendation.
No, FOMO was on the game for deciding that the only possible way to release new content (that, mind you, is part of the game cost that we already paid for) is by compelling the playerbase to play X amount of hours every single week and complete Y tasks to obtain it. Instead of something like, y’know, adding those cars to the Autoshow and letting people play the game in the way they choose to earn enough credits to purchase them. (Gran Turismo says hi here.) And it wasn’t even about getting 20 points per week to earn each new car, either, as certain tasks rewarded new cosmetics or horns or such. Hell, there are still a handful of clothing items and chat phrases that exist in-game yet have never once been available to earn, probably because the devs forgot they even exist. This release model is so awful that it taints what would otherwise be rock-solid fun gameplay.
Now what I’m doing now, yes that’s entirely on me. It became enough of a habit when I had to do it that I’ve kept doing it even when I don’t have to anymore, because hehe tasks turn gold. I’ve been trying to break myself of it over the past few series, but no dice so far.
Which goes even a step further when the content is often exclusive to that playlist & not subsequently made available in the Autoshow or alternate available means for the player to obtain something they missed during the specific playlist week.
I don’t disagree with the intent of game progression to obtain content, but locking it down to a finite window that may not be available to all players at that time without an alternate means of obtaining it doesn’t seem reasonable imo.
Reasonable…the game literally throws cars at you left, right, and centre but as soon as it requires you to do actually do something it is unreasonable, seriously?
Calling FH5 the worst is oversimplifying, which is why I always add the qualifier “in terms of gameplay design” when saying it’s the “worst”.
FH5’s gameplay design is reductive, and actively works against the strengths of the franchise. And that’s what I’m vocal about.
However, it also features the best physics of the franchise and the best car list in all video games, period. Which happen to be the two most important things to me in a driving sandbox.
I still occasionally play a bit of FH4 or FH3, but both games have that nebulous suspension, and FH3’s physics has issues with surface distinction. Plus it has a lighting issue on PC that’s kind of untenable of you play in cockpit view like me.
In terms of gameplay design though, 3 blows 4 and 5 out of the water.
If I’m not able to have the chance to earn content that was added to the game because I am unable to play said game during one particular week, then I have objectively missed out on it. Like, that’s not a matter of opinion, it’s a basic fact. It’s not about how much I do or don’t drive any particular car. I purchased the game, and I want the chance to own every single car in the game, particularly ones that aren’t part of any paid car pack or expansion but were instead added to the base game which I already paid for.
Literally no one said anything about microtransactions. I would prefer it if I could perform tasks to obtain every single car added to the game after launch at any time I’m able to do so. There’s a dead-simple way to make this happen: just add new cars to the Autoshow and make them purchasable for credits. Or failing that, let the player go back and play any old Playlist series at any time they want to earn old rewards. I don’t think that’s asking a whole lot.
I have no idea why this topic gets so misrepresented. No one is saying that we want the cars handed to us for doing absolutely nothing. We just want the chance to do something whenever, so that the person who only buys the game 3 years after its release has the ability to earn every single car that someone who started playing on launch day has. Simple.
This , or addition of a specialty / used car dealership where these cars are rotated and purchasable with credits.
Sometimes you might also like to have multiple examples of your favourite car(s), for example 1 stock for just enjoying driving around and few tuned to different classes and this should be a non-issue.
I fully agree with this, and a lot of other great points you’ve made throughout this topic regarding the FOMO-estival Playlists, especially given I was spending anywhere from 4-5 hours every week on FH5, including another 4-5 hours on FH4 too, just to make sure I didn’t ‘miss out’ on unlocking certain reward cars, etc!
I originally started on FH5 several months after it’s release, given I didn’t even have an Xbox Series X until like a year or two after that console released, so I missed out on any initial Festival Playlists, but even then I was only ‘checking out’ things at first and didn’t go ‘all-in’ on fully completing them until the 10th Anniversary playlist, which to me was too special to miss out on, from there I went on to finish 10+ festival playlists after that, which in turn made FH5 feel less like a game and more like a part-time job, having to put in those ‘work hours’ each week in order to get rewarded for completing all those various tasks along the way!
It should be mentioned that at the time I was still playing through literally almost every Forza Horizon & Motorsport games too each week, but in everything before FH4, I could at least make progress at my own pace, getting as much done as I could, rather than basically forcing myself to finish everything on FH4 & FH5 each week in comparison, that I’d otherwise miss out on things entirely… in which case, I even moved house back last year, and literally had to trust a friend with my account/login details so they could finish a week or two worth of things on FH5 until I had things sorted out in my room & internet, etc until I could even play again, all whilst they were also doing their own playthrough of it too, effectively doubling that ‘work-load’ of festival playlists, of course I was and still am grateful for their efforts in making sure I didn’t lose/miss any progress!
As for Forza Horizon 6, I do have it pre-ordered, but I’m very much ‘on the fence’ with the festival playlists this time around, despite having not been there from ‘day 1’ of FH5, I don’t think I could put myself through that pressure/stress each week again just to finish everything, plus I don’t even have the same time for that anymore as I used to back then before/after moving house!
They have said that there will be a way to earn cars missed in previous playlists. I don’t think they’ve shown anything about it but it was discussed a bit.
Yeah, I saw that, but honestly I’m not putting much stock in it without concrete details. And that would still only cover the cars, not any other cosmetic rewards that get included in the Playlist. They’re lower-priority for me, but still something that I feel shouldn’t be missable.
Seems like they would be available also but only time will tell. It doesn’t help your pc though. Maybe there’s a used Xbox to get by with for a while?
Looking back at the cars, most I would be fine without. I don’t think I’ll be as concerned with missing them this time. This especially with cars brought forward from 3, 4 and now 5.
To me it’s still a great entertainment value and as long as my old Xbox is running I’ll be there.
I do understand where you are coming from because there’s been a lot things pushing me away from it. There’s been a couple of times where I almost canceled my pre-order.
Same. Kind of hard to describe, but my enthusiasm for the launch is nowhere near what it was for 5. I think the amount of time I spent in 5 may have actually contributed to some burnout in general, but I feel like a lot of the nonsense we’ve had to continue to deal with through the years has just somewhat come to a pinnacle, at least for me. Hoping the new settings might change that feeling a bit, but just feels like more of the same, only with starting over…again.
, or addition of a specialty / used car dealership where these cars are rotated and purchasable with credits.
