I am extremely excited for Forza Horizon 6, but I cannot ignore how stagnant the customization of real-world parts has become in FH6 for a long-term player. My issue isn’t even with Forza Aero, as I have always ignored it on cars known for their customization, nor is it the fact that they reuse parts from years ago—I am actually glad they still exist. The real problem is that devs are not adding any new parts, especially from the brands they used to bring back in the day. It is disheartening to see this lack of curation; we already know exactly what to expect from each car because the authentic part options have been the same for 15 years. It seems like there has been a shift in philosophy at Playground/Turn 10. They swapped the variety of individual parts (bumpers, skirts, spoilers) for complete, “hyped” bodykits like Liberty Walk and Rocket Bunny.
No new parts seem to have been added to existing cars. The Civic Type-R (EK9) was added back in FM4 in 2011 with the same parts it has today. The S2000 is the same story: it debuted in the Xbox 360 era and maintains the same basic parts in FH5 and FH6, only gaining a Rocket Bunny kit which seems to be the only brand the current devs know
For the Supra we only got a new bodykit from KRC in FH5. In FH6 the Supra kept the same options yet the still lacks iconic parts like those from TRD, Ridox, or the Bomex bumper from Fast & Furious. Some examples of customization that could be added as something new to discover.
Forza already holds licenses for brands like Abflug, C-West, Bomex, Varis, Kaminari, Do-Luck, J’s Racing, Mugen, and Top Secret, but for some reason, devs only use these licenses for cars that were added over a decade ago.
These companies will only appear if a car in the game is a 360-era model.
It makes me sad to know there is a high chance both Honda NSX models won’t have any new parts, the Acura Integra DC2 will also come with nothing, and the CRX will still come without a sideskirt it hasn’t had since FM2. Or all of these remodels that will arrive possibly having 1 bumper or body kit option.
It seems like when a car is old in the franchise, the devs forgot how to handle the files and create new parts, which makes no sense, since 3D modeling parts is something extremely simple. On the Forza Forums, we have an exclusive section to request new customizations, and it seems like this section is being ignored.
There are still a number of custom brands that I’d like to see added, such as Veilside, Re-amemiya, Spoon, Wald, Blitz, J-Blood, Margahills, and Taitec, but even just the existing licenses would be enough to add a lot of new customization.
I sincerely hope that devs still expand the number of parts and bring the care that JDM culture deserves, perhaps by adding more real parts after the game is released.