A few notes and caveats regarding this video (with relevant timestamps): 0:22:25 - If anyone doubts just how spectacular this creative tool is, check out Don Joewon Song's new custom route called "Utopia Gardens"; YOUR MIND WILL MELT -> ruclips.net/video/GJej9z2nWT4/видео.html&feature=shares 0:22:25 - Part of the reason I say this (and why you won't hear any complaints about either invasive UI or AI in the open world) is because event lab allows players to essentially create a makeshift freeplay mode where event notifications are turned off and you can toggle the traffic on and off; it still isn't ideal, but it's good enough that my issues with the lack of a proper adjustable freeplay mode, while discussed in the context of other issues in the game within this review, are not worth addressing in the context to a missing freeplay mode specifically. 0:28:30 - one small asterisk needs to be applied to this statement; while I maintain that Horizon Adventure is the best overall career/campaign mode in any Horizon game, the ending (or lack thereof) was a bit underwhelming, as entering the hall of fame just involves a brief cutscene that essentially says "ok now keep playing" without providing any real sense of arriving at the end of the game. Given that this leads to the live service elements of the game and that I spend a fairly large amount of time discussing that in this review I felt that mentioning the lack of an end to Horizon Adventure was needless in the review, but I still wanted to mention it here in case anyone happened to wondering about that. 0:29:02- Just to be clear in case my use of the past tense didn't make it obvious, these things WERE issues for multiplayer but have ultimately been fixed; my point is that these things should have never been an issue in the first place and are worthy of criticism even if they have since been patched out (especially considering that the "they'll fix it in a patch" defense only works to normalize companies pumping out incomplete games in the future. 0:32:00 - Just to be clear, these bugs and glitches ALSO appeared in single player, and some continue to persist in the game, sometimes even returning in updates to the game. 0:35:12 - I say "to a moderate extent" because I am still in agreement with most people that the implementation of wheelspins throws a wrench in an otherwise decent progression system; spins giving us hundreds of thousands of credits or a lambo were infrequent relative to the spins giving us common shoes or a pittance of currency, but it was still jarring and happened often enough to slightly dampen our enjoyment of making progress. 37:17 - To their credit, playground games has slowly added new colors and patterns to the clothing roster, but the general trend remains the same; a lot of clothing from the prior game is still absent in Horizon 5 and anything vaguely interesting is locked behind either specific ingame progression, wheelspins, or the forzathon shop/seasonal reward system. 0:50:05 - Since the time of writing, the Murcielago SV has been added as an accolade reward via an update around the 10-year anniversary, but this was after almost a year of being a wheelspin-exclusive car, the SV still is not available from the autoshow, and (to the best of my knowledge) every other vehicle that started as a wheelspin exclusive has remained a wheelspin exclusive since launch, with the SV as the only exception. 1:00:58 - After a lot of deliberation, I decided against stamping a score on the end of this review (I was going to give it a 7.8 out of 10) in order to prevent a reductive number judgment from undermining the nuances and specifics of what I did and did not like about Forza Horizon 5. The game is, overall, full of problems and a lot of what compromises the player experience was deliberately put into the game to pressure people into the live service elements, but the high points are so high that there is still a fun game here for those willing to put up with the more insidious aspects of Horizon Mexico.
Horizon still lacks progression and immersion for me. When it comes to open world racing games, I prefer Test Drive. Shame games like that don't exist anymore. Racing game genre is at a low at the moment. What i did like about Horizon was the economy and the auction house, but unfortunately that is ruined by the hackers and the people using macros and algorithms to instantly buy rare cars, effectively making the auction house unusable for someone who plays the game legitimately. What I find frustrating about Horizon, is that it's only appealing on a surface level and is very shallow. The game is so beautiful, (at the the exception of reused car models from older games), the weather effects are gorgeous, so is the map, which is a character in it's own right, but it lacks creative direction and feels much more like a tech demo. You have a lot of quantity, lots of cars, big maps, lots of challenges and contents, but nothing that weaves it together where it would become more than the sum of it's parts. FH5 is a big pile of content, but it's very lackluster and is so devoid of passion that it's almost offensive. Lots of bright colors and over the top jumps is not going to compensate for the lack of soul. It's a lot of hype and fluff, with no love or depth, this game is alluring in appearance only but quickly reveals itself to be a dead end, and that's frustrating, because the delicious graphics and visuals makes me want it to be a good game, but it's average at best. Finally, I'd like to say, on a technical level, the game is proficient, but it doesn't go beyond that to become an engaging game. And, unfortunately, the driving is the perfect example of that. The car's behaviors are well simulated, and the weight shifts realistically, but just like for the rest of the game they missed the most important part, the emotional component. I don't feel a real sense of speed, I don't feel that rush, I'm speeding, it's supposed to be dangerous, but the driving experience lacks flavor und pezaze. Bottom line, when it comes to the center piece of the game, the driving, it underdelivers, I'd much rather play a Project Cars 3, where the driving FEELS amazing and a playsession leaves me pumped up and energized, even though it has less features. At the end of the day it's about the feeling. On paper FH5 looks good, but I don't feel invested or passionate about it like I would another game. It's a bad sign when a racing game puts you to sleep.
@@dankswank9088 Thanks Dankswan. I really enjoyed your review as well. Found you through your Solar Crown content and really liked your critique of the gameplay trailer with the influencers. (I still wonder which one of them did strike your video... 😏). When it comes to Forza, something I wanted to add, the most excitement I had was when I first was exploring the huge map, getting a feel for the driving physics in the new Supra, and being in awe of the visuals and colors. I first was only playing the game casually, and probably should have kept it that way. It's best enjoyed when doing a couple solo races here and there, because when you get really invested, the cracks begin to show. Once the makeup's off and the routine sets in, you realize the conversations are dull and you don't really have a much in common. You don't have soulful connection to the one siting in front of you, nothing to build on for further investment. The fourth installment showed it, Forza has always been strong on hype, but that's also what can make the title detestable, you're lured in with bright colors, nice graphics, large car lists, complex handling model and setpieces, but once the novelty wears off, you realize there's not much more to it and that it's quite shallow. Disappointing to say the least. I still miss Horizon 1, embracing you with it's warmth and atmosphere, letting you inside and bewitching you with it's colors, affection and beautiful, secret locations. And I really do mean it, an open world game needs to earn it's credentials and be more as an excuse to make the handling more accessible. Where's the immersion, where are the lifestyle features? I haven't seen one red light, one gas station. The houses, as you fittingly pointed out, are nothing more than glorified screensavers, nowhere to huddle up in with the friends you made along the way, no HQ for your crew. No real meeting places or social spaces, just a lot of menus. I've been in Mexico for a year and still feel like a tourist, I simply can't penetrate the surface to dive in deeper, because there is nothing beyond. It's painful like wanting to dive into a puddle. The cardboard cutouts officiating as "characters" are the last straw. They feel like they're being held at gunpoint and could be executed at any second if the emotionally deviate from a tyrannically enforced state of asinine, dopey enthousiasism. Shame then, because the first hours make you want and expect the game to be so much more. And that's the real disappointment here.
@@007Spadge True, the driving physics and map are great for casual play, but the misleading hype and forced positivity in the game are major detractors for sure. As for the person who took down the original video, I'm not going to say who it was, but given that the original video seems to have been put back up by RUclips, you could probably tell after watching it exactly who it is 🙃. Sorry for the late reply btw; lots of stuff going on personally has made it difficult for me to engage with the channel as much as I would like.
A few notes and caveats regarding this video (with relevant timestamps):
0:22:25 - If anyone doubts just how spectacular this creative tool is, check out Don Joewon Song's new custom route called "Utopia Gardens"; YOUR MIND WILL MELT -> ruclips.net/video/GJej9z2nWT4/видео.html&feature=shares
0:22:25 - Part of the reason I say this (and why you won't hear any complaints about either invasive UI or AI in the open world) is because event lab allows players to essentially create a makeshift freeplay mode where event notifications are turned off and you can toggle the traffic on and off; it still isn't ideal, but it's good enough that my issues with the lack of a proper adjustable freeplay mode, while discussed in the context of other issues in the game within this review, are not worth addressing in the context to a missing freeplay mode specifically.
0:28:30 - one small asterisk needs to be applied to this statement; while I maintain that Horizon Adventure is the best overall career/campaign mode in any Horizon game, the ending (or lack thereof) was a bit underwhelming, as entering the hall of fame just involves a brief cutscene that essentially says "ok now keep playing" without providing any real sense of arriving at the end of the game. Given that this leads to the live service elements of the game and that I spend a fairly large amount of time discussing that in this review I felt that mentioning the lack of an end to Horizon Adventure was needless in the review, but I still wanted to mention it here in case anyone happened to wondering about that.
0:29:02- Just to be clear in case my use of the past tense didn't make it obvious, these things WERE issues for multiplayer but have ultimately been fixed; my point is that these things should have never been an issue in the first place and are worthy of criticism even if they have since been patched out (especially considering that the "they'll fix it in a patch" defense only works to normalize companies pumping out incomplete games in the future.
0:32:00 - Just to be clear, these bugs and glitches ALSO appeared in single player, and some continue to persist in the game, sometimes even returning in updates to the game.
0:35:12 - I say "to a moderate extent" because I am still in agreement with most people that the implementation of wheelspins throws a wrench in an otherwise decent progression system; spins giving us hundreds of thousands of credits or a lambo were infrequent relative to the spins giving us common shoes or a pittance of currency, but it was still jarring and happened often enough to slightly dampen our enjoyment of making progress.
37:17 - To their credit, playground games has slowly added new colors and patterns to the clothing roster, but the general trend remains the same; a lot of clothing from the prior game is still absent in Horizon 5 and anything vaguely interesting is locked behind either specific ingame progression, wheelspins, or the forzathon shop/seasonal reward system.
0:50:05 - Since the time of writing, the Murcielago SV has been added as an accolade reward via an update around the 10-year anniversary, but this was after almost a year of being a wheelspin-exclusive car, the SV still is not available from the autoshow, and (to the best of my knowledge) every other vehicle that started as a wheelspin exclusive has remained a wheelspin exclusive since launch, with the SV as the only exception.
1:00:58 - After a lot of deliberation, I decided against stamping a score on the end of this review (I was going to give it a 7.8 out of 10) in order to prevent a reductive number judgment from undermining the nuances and specifics of what I did and did not like about Forza Horizon 5. The game is, overall, full of problems and a lot of what compromises the player experience was deliberately put into the game to pressure people into the live service elements, but the high points are so high that there is still a fun game here for those willing to put up with the more insidious aspects of Horizon Mexico.
very underrated channel honestly, i've found a gem. cant wait to see the growth
Horizon still lacks progression and immersion for me. When it comes to open world racing games, I prefer Test Drive. Shame games like that don't exist anymore. Racing game genre is at a low at the moment.
What i did like about Horizon was the economy and the auction house, but unfortunately that is ruined by the hackers and the people using macros and algorithms to instantly buy rare cars, effectively making the auction house unusable for someone who plays the game legitimately.
What I find frustrating about Horizon, is that it's only appealing on a surface level and is very shallow. The game is so beautiful, (at the the exception of reused car models from older games), the weather effects are gorgeous, so is the map, which is a character in it's own right, but it lacks creative direction and feels much more like a tech demo.
You have a lot of quantity, lots of cars, big maps, lots of challenges and contents, but nothing that weaves it together where it would become more than the sum of it's parts. FH5 is a big pile of content, but it's very lackluster and is so devoid of passion that it's almost offensive.
Lots of bright colors and over the top jumps is not going to compensate for the lack of soul. It's a lot of hype and fluff, with no love or depth, this game is alluring in appearance only but quickly reveals itself to be a dead end, and that's frustrating, because the delicious graphics and visuals makes me want it to be a good game, but it's average at best.
Finally, I'd like to say, on a technical level, the game is proficient, but it doesn't go beyond that to become an engaging game. And, unfortunately, the driving is the perfect example of that. The car's behaviors are well simulated, and the weight shifts realistically, but just like for the rest of the game they missed the most important part, the emotional component. I don't feel a real sense of speed, I don't feel that rush, I'm speeding, it's supposed to be dangerous, but the driving experience lacks flavor und pezaze.
Bottom line, when it comes to the center piece of the game, the driving, it underdelivers, I'd much rather play a Project Cars 3, where the driving FEELS amazing and a playsession leaves me pumped up and energized, even though it has less features. At the end of the day it's about the feeling. On paper FH5 looks good, but I don't feel invested or passionate about it like I would another game. It's a bad sign when a racing game puts you to sleep.
Well thought-out and justified stance
@@dankswank9088 Thanks Dankswan. I really enjoyed your review as well. Found you through your Solar Crown content and really liked your critique of the gameplay trailer with the influencers. (I still wonder which one of them did strike your video... 😏).
When it comes to Forza, something I wanted to add, the most excitement I had was when I first was exploring the huge map, getting a feel for the driving physics in the new Supra, and being in awe of the visuals and colors.
I first was only playing the game casually, and probably should have kept it that way. It's best enjoyed when doing a couple solo races here and there, because when you get really invested, the cracks begin to show.
Once the makeup's off and the routine sets in, you realize the conversations are dull and you don't really have a much in common. You don't have soulful connection to the one siting in front of you, nothing to build on for further investment.
The fourth installment showed it, Forza has always been strong on hype, but that's also what can make the title detestable, you're lured in with bright colors, nice graphics, large car lists, complex handling model and setpieces, but once the novelty wears off, you realize there's not much more to it and that it's quite shallow. Disappointing to say the least.
I still miss Horizon 1, embracing you with it's warmth and atmosphere, letting you inside and bewitching you with it's colors, affection and beautiful, secret locations.
And I really do mean it, an open world game needs to earn it's credentials and be more as an excuse to make the handling more accessible. Where's the immersion, where are the lifestyle features? I haven't seen one red light, one gas station. The houses, as you fittingly pointed out, are nothing more than glorified screensavers, nowhere to huddle up in with the friends you made along the way, no HQ for your crew. No real meeting places or social spaces, just a lot of menus. I've been in Mexico for a year and still feel like a tourist, I simply can't penetrate the surface to dive in deeper, because there is nothing beyond. It's painful like wanting to dive into a puddle.
The cardboard cutouts officiating as "characters" are the last straw. They feel like they're being held at gunpoint and could be executed at any second if the emotionally deviate from a tyrannically enforced state of asinine, dopey enthousiasism.
Shame then, because the first hours make you want and expect the game to be so much more. And that's the real disappointment here.
@@007Spadge True, the driving physics and map are great for casual play, but the misleading hype and forced positivity in the game are major detractors for sure. As for the person who took down the original video, I'm not going to say who it was, but given that the original video seems to have been put back up by RUclips, you could probably tell after watching it exactly who it is 🙃.
Sorry for the late reply btw; lots of stuff going on personally has made it difficult for me to engage with the channel as much as I would like.
@@dankswank9088 don't worry bout it, we all got RL stuff 2 do. I checked that vid that's been reuppped 😉
why is this reuploaded
We explain in a community post on our channel ruclips.net/channel/UCZ7MYz4tOAJkrJQz7j2Mnhwcommunity?lb=UgkxsJsXoLpqbcIlTWSyGw278AwwTf53QJFt