The FH5 Two Year Anniversary Thread

Forza Horizon Forza Horizon 5 FH5 Discussion
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It’s a bit hard to believe we just passed the two year anniversary of the release of FH5, but here we are. Seems like it wasn’t that long ago we were watching the launch trailers in anticipation of the next iteration to hit our screens & speculating on what the cover car would be :smile:
Fast forward two years & here we are. Through the highs & lows, debates & debacles, successes & failures, enjoyments & frustrations, if you are reading this, then you are at least still engaged to some degree, which is good.
To that point, I’d like to send out a personal thank you to this community for all the positive support, friendships, camaraderie & spirit that is really the foundation of this franchise for me. Sure there have been some rough spots, not everyone agrees or has stuck around & many have unfortunately left for a variety of reasons, including negativity & the usual internet, faceless behavior, which is unfortunate, but I think overall it has been mostly positive.

I initially thought about turning this into a poll, but I think we can all agree we’ve had our fair share of polls & their effectiveness is often brought into question. So instead, thought it might be good to just open it up to a discussion on your current thoughts on the game, why you’re still here & where you think we’re going.

For me, I would consider myself a dedicated player obviously, but with RL always getting in the way, I’m typically just a weekend warrior. Despite that, I was surprised to see I’m quickly approaching 2500hrs in game :flushed: (somewhat embarrassed to share that actually :joy:)
My time is now mostly spent on the weekly “new car points” diet, new designs, some tuning & running various Rivals events for something to do.
I’ve seen some other discussions about the value of the game in terms of return on investment & I have to say the game (for me at least) has been worth every penny considering that amount of play time it offers. There’s almost an endless supply of things to do in this game that can keep it entertaining. I can also admit it can be conversely frustrating at times for sure, but no question I’ve gotten my money’s worth out of it.

Anyway, hopefully not TLDNR; if you stuck through it, thanks for hearing me out. I invite you to share your thoughts on this milestone & what you think of the game at this point. Opinions are, of course, always welcome, just please try to keep it respectful as always. So enough said. Ready? ¡GO!

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My current thoughts are that the devs are showing some signs of competency now that Mike Brown is gone.

Actual new tracks have raised my hopes a lot, but EA Sports WRC has been taking almost all of my racing game interest of late. It’s flawed, even egregiously at times, but having actual honest to goodness single player endgame is such a massive breath of fresh air after the genre has been stifled by railroaded open matchmaking and other poor design decisions I can’t help but get deeply engrossed in it.

I’m still in wait and see mode with FH5 and the future of the franchise. The potential for the franchise is still incredible, and while the foundation could use work, it’s still the best foundation for an open world racing game out there IMO.

After being dragged through the mud and assailed by pants-on-head design decisions for so long, it’s going to take a lot for PGG to convince me they are done trying to perpetually re-invent the wheel and get back to the fundamentals. However, I do understand that transitions like this take a lot of time, and they do appear (at the very least) to be leaning in the right direction. Corporate turnarounds like this are uncommon, but not unheard of, and they’ve done enough to convince me that I should at least continue to pay attention to the franchise and PGG at large, something that I was close to giving up on (especially with competition taking away my attention now).

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Many probably won’t agree but for me Forza Horizon has been the rare franchise where each entry has been better than the last.
My playtime isn’t near yours but I’m approaching 1570 hours. Most of my time goes into tuning for the Festival Playlist, which I genuinely enjoy very much.
The tuning and testing aspect is fun for me, and it feels good to log in everyday and see that players have engaged with your content.

I know some would like them to shake up the formula and I would to, to a certain extent, but I’d be surprised if FH6 strays too far from the formula given the huge success of FH4 and 5.

Speaking of FH6, I’m hoping it comes next year but I have a feeling we likely won’t see it until 2025.
A few reasons I feel that way is I think they’d start winding down support for FH5 by going into repeating series and we know they said they have plenty more content coming next year.
Also, presumably they’ll be using the retooled Forza Tech engine and leaving the last gen consoles behind, so they’ll be able to go bigger with a sequel.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention this community. I’m not the type that engages with other people, whether that be in person or over the internet, but I’ve come to enjoy stopping in here every day to see what’s happening and to engage with fellow community members.

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I’d also like to thank everybody here for their friendships and support in the year (and a half) I’ve been on this forum. This is a great community of people and I think we’re one of the most passionate groups for this game on the internet. The passion for the franchise, the support for each other, and the friendships we’ve made always keeps me coming back. It hasn’t always been smooth, and there’s been some bad characters along the way, but you guys make it so worth it. At this point, I’d say the forum game is often more fun than the game itself.

As for your discussion prompt, I think the game is starting to head in the right direction, but this game is such a mess as a whole that no amount of great cars can fix it. New routes are a good start, and I’d like to see more, preferably circuits. On top of that, custom start points for the route creator/EventLab. And I’ve said it once, but I’ll say it again - custom championships need to return before it’s too late.

Lack of alternative is definitely part of why I’m staying. This franchise is kind of it’s own thing. It’s a sim next to NFS, but it’s far more arcadey next to games like Assetto Corsa, Gran Turismo, IRacing, and even the new FM. The open world thing is also very important to me. I’m also still holding on to all the memories I’ve made in the older games, and I’m not ready to let go of the series yet. That’s probably why I’ve been playing so much FH2 lately - FH5 is getting stale and there’s so much nostalgia and so many great memories in 2 that it’s well worth revisiting.

Thanks again to this community for everything you guys have done - all the support and friendships mean a lot to me. :heart:

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Two years in and I’ve only just reached prestige 6. I did the same in FH4 in about a year, which is sort of indicative of my relationship with FH5. There are times when the drivatars have so frustrated, annoyed and infuriated me that I’ve limited myself to the dailies and little else once I’ve done with the Festival playlist. I’ve not stopped playing FH4, either, even if I only bother with a small part of the playlist each week in that game.

And yet there are other times when I regret that I need to curtail my time in the game when there are other things to do.

The technical difficulties with the game which have bothered us since launch are another negative. I estimate that my rate of disconnection in free roam is about 99%. Whenever there’s an HA in the Festival playlist, I wonder whether I’ll get it done. How long will it take for me to join the Eliminator or the Trial or Horizon Tour?

We’ve had some good car packs, but I sometimes feel there are too many cars all calling out for my attention, which then get neglected when something else turns up. I was keen for the F8 Tributo to return because the game’s unreliable save system lost me my first one, but I haven’t done a thing with the car apart from a short drive.

The new sprint races are fine, and I’ve been enjoying them, but what about some new circuit races? What about something like the Falcon Speedway in Lego Valley which was supposed to be so popular and yet nothing similar has ever turned up. What about some real-world length circuits? Or even some fictional motor racing circuits? (No, that oval thing in the stadium doesn’t count.)

Ultimately, I don’t know about FH6 which will almost certainly keep to the same formula. But I suppose I’ll probably succumb when it arrives just as I keep succumbing to FH5 in spite of all the niggling, bothersome issues it has.

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Despite my criticisms, I have never thought that Horizon 5 was a bad game. It’s just not a great game. Two years later, my opinion still hasn’t been swayed from this. Though the updates have improved slightly in the absence of Mike Brown, there’s still too much wrong with the fundamentals of the game that only a completely new game is capable of rectifying, and that is only if said new game could finally shake off the sins of its predecessors. Despite what someone else has said in earlier post in this thread, Horizon has arguably gotten worse in many gameplay areas with every subsequent release since Horizon 2 while only making minor quality of life improvements along the way. I don’t suspect that Horizon 6 will learn anything from Horizon 5, but it’s always nice to have hope, no matter how futile.

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Only?! I’d say that’s pretty good; I’m still at P3 I believe, but a lot of my time in game has been spent on designing, getting much more involved running Rivals events within the last year or so. Leveling up has never really been a focal point for me though after reaching the HOF.

I really only got into FH with 4, so I unfortunately missed all the previous titles to allow me to make that assessment. Definitely feel like I missed out on some great gameplay given the feedback I’ve seen here, particularly with FH3. Never thought anything would replace my love of FPSs, but I’ve racked up more play time with this game than any other, which says a lot. I think the community aspect of the gameplay is definitely part of the attraction overall, despite some of the negatives which can result from that. There is clearly still that element of the “cheat culture” & those gaming the system to their advantage, but that’s unfortunately always been the case & will remain I’m sure.

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FH3 was incredible for it’s time. Both the single player and multiplayer experience were far superior thanks to being dedicated modes as opposed to the horrible compromise introduced in 4 and made worse in 5.

The open world in single player was far more active and involved, and you had access to unlimited racing endgame thanks to custom championships and more races than are in 5 (or at least were, unsure how the numbers stack up now).

Meanwhile multiplayer was better just by the sheer fact that the only people in it were people who actually wanted to be there and interact with others.

The game does have its flaws though, even compared to FH4 or 5. The physics have had clear and positive iterations made. FH3 was a very expensive game. There was no bundle including the expansions, and a much larger proportion of the car list was paid DLC. FOMO and timed exclusives were also a part of the game, though the game did a poor job advertising that fact. The #forzathon was the foundation that the playlist in 4 was built on, for better or worse.

The base map, while visually diverse and stunning, lacked verticality, and the outback took up a little too much of the map’s overall size. Not as big of a deal as Mexico’s desert and farmland issue, but worth mentioning.

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I’ve warmed to FH5 a lot more in recent times for one simple reason…

The direction finally feels like it’s heading the right way, the intent is there, right from the start of FH4 to somewhere early in FH5 I had still enjoyed it but I always got this sense of arrogance and self-indulgence from the games, as if they were basking in the knowledge that they have no competition and asking us to just stand + admire it, but now for the first time in years it feels like the players they should always have been focusing on are in the conversation.

I am nowhere near as harsh on it as I once was for that reason, if I think someone/something has good intentions then I am much more lenient + forgiving of said thing (and the opposite applies for the other end of the scale), I hope to see this direction continue indefinitely for FH5 + the next game, because lord knows do we need it more than ever with the rubbish FM’s produced, at least FH has never sunk to that level.

My strongest memory of the game now will be the same as whenever we leave Mexico, it’s the game that made me fully confident of my ability in this + other racing games mostly due to participating in Jezza’s Rivals challenge, I was + still am shocked to see I have pushed some of the best drivers on the forum at times, even very occasionally winning a handful of the weeks, because I am not some hardcore player like I am sure some think, I use auto, bumper cam, a bog standard Xbox controller and completely default settings, I haven’t even changed the deadzones despite how much it is recommended, I do exactly what thousands of casual players do.

The community, ehhhhh…it’s an awkward one, personally for me my idea of a proper community goes a bit beyond a group of people just being nice to each other, you’re nice to someone who opens a door for you or someone behind the counter in a shop, a community should be able to have a much wider range + tone of chats and I don’t think some can, they turn the moment things stop being niceties + jokes and it’s as if they have never met you before.

Of course that doesn’t mean we should just go starting on each other for the sake of it but we should all be able to be frank and matter of fact with each other where appropriate, if one of us is being ridiculous or straight up wrong about something every regular should be able to go and say it to the one, trusting + knowing that when it does happen there’s no malice in it and not trying to see some personal attack that doesn’t exist, but I personally believe that over the internet it is the situation where you’re most likely to see what people are truly like, it’s easy to appear friendly, helpful, intelligent, humorous etc when everything is hunky dory.

But overall I have a far more interesting experience both on here and in-game with FH5 compared to FH4, I think that is more down to circumstances than the respective actual quality of the games but all the same I am glad it’s still going strong, even more so after stomaching FM.

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I will admit my perception of FH5 has lightened a bit after FM and seeing how much worse things can get. I don’t want to let off the pressure, FH5 still has plenty of things to be constructively critical about, but at least I still have hope for both FH5 and the future of the franchise. FM and turn 10 are kind of dead to me right now, deemed unworthy of my time or emotional investment, though I will admit to some morbid curiousity to see how they respond to the whole situation. I’m ashamed to say that’s more for cathartic amusement then any real belief in a turnaround.

I can’t speak for others but I know I’ve butted heads with my fellow forum goers on more than one occasion. Most are good at associating the argument with the topic, not the person. I know, for example, @KnightOfRen8514 and I have been emphatically agreeing in one thread, strongly disagreeing in another thread, and also DMing each other trying to help each other out with one particular thing all within a short time span. Not the only example but the most recent one I can think of. I do agree that the forums are a little too clique still but there is definitely some debate and discord.

Edit: I mean you mention deadzones. We’ve butted heads over that, but I don’t think there’s any personal feelings of vitriol over that disagreement.

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Yeah exactly that was something I completely understand, while in WRC 10 it was one of the very first things I did adjusting the deadzones because it felt shockingly twitchy when I had a quick run initially.

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Yep, unfortunately very true, but I think we also have quite a few foundational members who are genuine & to your point, you can usually see that in their actions. I’ve made friends here & from the game that I actually converse directly with & have become actual RL friends with. I’ve also had those who claimed such friendship & then for whatever reasons, decide to just ghost you, but it’s to be expected I guess, just unfortunate. I try to be respectful to all & at 55, I’m pretty much “what you see is what you get” at this point :smile:

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It really holds up as an incredible game today. The bucket list, the great car list, fantastic singleplayer, a singleplayer endgame with custom championships, a far better online system, and a stunning and extremely diverse map. My only complaints are the aforementioned physics, and that the driving roads aren’t as good as its predecessor. Which leads me to my next point…

Don’t forget FH2 as well. Another incredible game for its time that still holds up today. An absolutely beautiful map with various amazing locations to start. The best city in Horizon history, in my opinion, a fantastic airport, in my opinion the best driving road in Horizon history, the south coast road from Castelletto to Nice, all of the smaller towns like Sisteron and San Giovanni scattered across the map, the “hidden” ancient temple on top of the mountain, the great dirt roads in the north, the industrial area south of Montellino, and the docks, which were just fantastic.

The singleplayer campaign was great. You had to work your way up and prove yourself, before becoming Horizon champion and taking over the road trip. Then you have 168 total championships in each different class to complete. It was a very long campaign, which meant you didn’t really run out of things to do. I really liked it.

FH2 was also before the introduction of FOMO, so all cars could simply be purchased from the autoshow or with DLC. No unattainable cars after EOL.

The music was great as well.

I’ve been playing FH2 a lot lately. I think I’ve fallen back in love with this game. It’s really something special.

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Was watching a Dubs video earlier and he used your Belvedere livery, @Bravo437.

He turned the build into a lowrider with a gravity changing Eventlab map.
Your livery looks incredible.:+1::+1:

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I can only take people’s word for it. Didn’t and don’t have an Xbox. FH3 was the first of the franchise on PC, and therefore my intro into the series.

Actually I think FH3 was part of the pilot program to bring Xbox exclusives to Windows. Pretty important moment in PC gaming.

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Awesome! Thanks for letting me know. Glad to see it’s getting some use. That 2x gravity really pulls it into lowrider mode, love it.

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Well reading that made me homesick for a game I’ve never even played :smile: I think I really missed out. THIS is why a FH platform with previous locations on a global map would be such an amazing addition. I realize it’s not as simple as that obviously & maintaining FH5 is a challenge in itself, but it would definitely give the game a whole new dimension.

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I wonder if that kind of fits their vision of “Forza as a Platform” that seems to be their model for the current FM.

Instead of being tied to “versions” you have a platform and then provide content for the platform (like all the old locations/maps/cars).

That would be an awful lot of content, and a lot of it is in at least some sort of digital format, though I imagine it would be a considerable undertaking.

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If you’re on Xbox One, you can purchase the disc on Amazon or somewhere else. It shouldn’t be too expensive.

Based on current trends, they’d somehow manage to screw that idea up.

They’d probably give us the insufferable FH5 characters doing voiceovers on the old maps. In which case, no thanks. I’ll just play FH2 and listen to Ben Green talk. He was during the time Forza was willing to create a tolerable character.

Or, y’know, there’d be 8000 new bugs.

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I’m on XSX, so no joy there. I usually find it tough going back to some games at lower performance & graphics anyway; can never really get used to it.

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