Forza Horizon 6 finally returns to the wristband career mode the series has drifted so far away from: 'You'll start out as just a tourist in Japan'

It's hard not to make driving supercars through city streets or rugged off-road jeeps down muddy mountains fun, so it's basically a given that every Forza Horizon game will at least be a good time. But, reaching an ugly peak in Forza Horizon 5, there's been a frustrating trend to carve away at that feeling of career progression in favour of more freedom.

You could immediately take part in almost any event and get a supercar in minutes in FH5. In fact, you could easily have a whole garage of supercars in no time—for free—thanks to the Wheelspin system. Not exactly what I'd call a career mode, and it quickly diminished any satisfaction from performing well to earn money and save up for your first fancy ride.

This leads me to the one line from Xbox's recent Developer Direct, which finally opened the hood on Forza Horizon 6, that instantly brought me on board: Torben Ellert, design director of FH6, said, "You'll start out as just a tourist in Japan."

Ellert explains that "your first goal is to join the Horizon Festival by completing the Horizon qualifiers. After that, you'll rise through the ranks, unlocking wristbands as you complete races in faster, more exciting cars."

In other words, yes, that's the career progression from the original Forza Horizon returning in FH6. I'm not expecting to stay a 'tourist' for very long (let's face it, you're not really a tourist if you're racing in qualifiers, are you?), but it's music to my ears that you won't start with anything close to a supercar. Give me some random rustbucket and I'll be happy.

Ellert goes on to say, "At the end of each round, you must prove you're ready to move up by completing spectacular events to unlock your next wristband… When you finally earn your gold wristband, you get access to Legend Island, an exclusive region of the world with unique events, tracks, and areas to explore."

We'll have to wait and see how satisfying it is in action, but the return of a proper career mode with tiered wristbands taking you through the festival, and even to an exclusive area, sounds miles better than recent attempts. Paired with a better housing and garage system, including the fully-customisable 'Estate', you've got a lot more to work towards while you tear it up in Japan.