Forza Horizon 5 is due to receive a number of exciting new JDM cars over the course of its next season, with 2023's Nissan Z taking the lead as one of the most coveted vehicles in the game. Being the latest in a long line of seasonal releases that Playground Games has put out since the game's launch, the new Festival Playlist aims to continue the cadence with a healthy new batch of content.
While the second expansion pack for Forza Horizon 5 is still nowhere to be seen, Playground Games is seemingly eager to continue the trend of its monthly content releases with the Japanese Automotive series update. As ever, though, unlocking all the new cars is going to be no mean feat, with some of them getting locked behind a bit of grind.
The Japanese Automotive season is going to kick off on January 31, 2023, and it's going to be comparable to most other Forza Horizon 5 seasonal releases. The update is going to task players with engaging in a variety of JDM-themed racing, with the rewards tailored accordingly. The most important of its many additions are undoubtedly the cars themselves, with Nissan Z and Toyota Sports 800 being entirely new for Forza Horizon in general. They will also be joined by two returning cars: Mitsubishi Galant VR4 from 1992 and the legendary Toyota MR2 GT from 1995. Each of the four aforementioned vehicles will be locked behind a weekly seasonal grind, though unlocking them shouldn't be too hard or time-consuming if the previous seasons are anything to go by.
While the new update doesn't match the sheer amount of content added in Forza Horizon's 10-year anniversary celebration, it's worth pointing out that there are 23 new Japanese-branded rims being introduced to the game, too. On top of that, particularly creative players will be able to leverage 57 entirely new car park props and objects for their custom tracks and maps in Forza's EventLab editor.
Fans of Ken Block will be thrilled to hear that the iconic driver's V2 Hoonicorn is joining Forza Horizon 5's car roster as part of the JDM seasonal update. The Hoonicorn and a few other Block vehicles will be available as rewards for completing various Festival Playlist events, which should make for a fairly engaging and interesting batch of tribute content for the late racer.
The fact that the new Nissan Z is being added to the game should be more than enough to get a number of car racing game fans back into the fray. Those who haven't had the chance to play since the game's launch may be particularly intrigued by the fact that Forza Horizon 5 enabled ray-tracing in regular gameplay, too, helping each of its hundreds of vehicles stand out more than they ever could before.
Forza Horizon 5 is available now on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Steam