opinion: Actually, Natalie doesn’t like racing games at all. Surprisingly, however, Forza, of all things, becomes her game of the year.
I just don’t like racing games. Now that I’ve got that off my chest, let me explain to you why Forza Horizon 5 is my game of the year.
I don’t think I need to elaborate on why 2021 was not an easy year. But instead of finding distraction in video games and escaping into virtual worlds, I was overcome by the greatest gaming fatigue I have ever experienced. No game managed to keep me going until the end. No game caused that excited tingling in the fingers when you can hardly wait for the end of the day.
Even the few releases I was really looking forward to didn’t manage to lift me out of the motivation hole. Biomutant could have been my feel-good game, but it disappointed all along the line. The time-loop game 12 Minutes killed me with its dull trial-and-error mechanics. Little Nightmares 2 continues to wait patiently on my Pile of Shame, although I could hardly wait for its release. And It Takes Two – ah, that was fantastic! But exceptions prove the rules, as we all know.
Short answer: In 2021, I just didn’t know what to play. Everything was too extensive, too complex, too story-heavy, too unmotivating and just too boring for me. And then Forza Horizon 5 came into Xbox Game Pass and I thought, “Well, it can’t hurt to play it. “
A different kind of open world
In my mind, every racing game goes the same way: you do three laps and you’re happy. Or you don’t. Of course I noticed that Forza Horizon 5 has an open world, but I didn’t register it. So I was surprised at first that I could move freely in Mexico. Then I was surprised a second time because I don’t only have to deal with racing!
I’m particularly fond of the expedition rides in the campaign, where I can travel to different corners of Mexico. Sometimes I’m driving through a dense jungle, sometimes I’m exploring an active volcano and sometimes I’m cruising through an – appropriately decorated for Christmas – inner city. I feel like I’m on a road trip and can really switch off. I finally understand the people who hop in their cars to clear their heads.
Forza Horizon 5’s progression system is certainly debatable. Objectively speaking, it makes absolutely no sense that you can win the championship trophy without even having driven a race.
Subjectively, though, I think it’s the coolest game design decision developer Playground Games could have made. If I want to spend three hours just driving through drift zones or getting flashed at my 280 km/h, I can do that no problem. Or I can play detective and search the entire open world for signs and barn finds. Or I just drive around and enjoy the beautiful landscapes as a balance for the stressful and monotonous everyday life.
Forza doesn’t punish me for playing the way I feel like it. And that’s exactly what keeps me coming back to this racing game, regardless of my mood for playing.
“Wow, you did a good job!”
Who doesn’t like to be praised and rewarded for their achievements? It’s even nicer when you don’t even have to do much of anything to get it. Forza Horizon 5 is very generous. Here I am rewarded for starting a race, finishing a race in fifth place, crashing into a fence or just breathing.
It’s completely undemanding and totally over the top, but it just pushes the right buttons for me at the moment. When I’m frustrated again because the situation around you-know-what isn’t getting any better, it’s balm for the soul when Forza tells me how well I brake.
In addition, it motivates me immensely to test the limits of what is possible. An old racing game habit from my childhood is to stick to the rules of the road and do as little damage to my car as possible. But after I realised that in Forza you get experience points for knocking everything over and doing somersaults while falling, I threw all caution overboard.
What Flensburg would have to introduce a new loyalty points system for in real life, Forza Horizon 5 also gives you rewards You want to drift down the waterfall at full car speed
Although I prefer to experience Forza Horizon 5 as a giant sandbox and do a bunch of shenanigans, the game can do otherwise.
Also for more challenging days
The difficulty of the races can be turned up and down at any time. There’s still a long way to go before I beat the Phantom riders at the highest level. In the meantime, I work on my technique and admire the brake lights of my competitors when they lap me.
The Festival Playlist also brings me welcome challenges, because unlike the rest of the game, it suddenly imposes rules on me. To solve one task, for example, I need a very specific car. For another, I finally have to get to grips with tuning so that my car can reach a certain speed.
And I don’t have much time for that, because the events change every week. So momentum comes into the garage and I also have to sit up a bit straighter in my gaming chair in order to complete all the seasonal challenges.
Is that why Forza Horizon 5 is the best game I’ve ever played? No. I’m also pretty sure I’ll lose my taste for Forza again at some point in the next few months.
But the racing game simply hit the right nerve at the right time and managed to do what many other games have failed to do: It gave me back the joy of playing. Sometimes it’s enough if a game is just a game and I can really let off steam. Now I can start 2022 motivated and looking forward to new adventures in other games. Of course, a few rounds of Forza will always do!
