What's new in Forza Horizon 5 compared to FH4

Forza Horizon 5 has some obvious changes, such as the new world, but many people will notice the similarities to FH4 after a while. Of course, the game engine is the same (although refreshed), some of the new features have a positive impact on the gameplay. Are the new features positive? It depends, but most of the modifications can be considered a successful update.

Modified tunings display

Looking through the tunings, we now see a lot more statistics than in the FH4. The tuning display now shows tire type: winter / off-road etc. and the type of suspension. In FH4 it was very difficult to know what tire and suspension were. You have to guess by looking at the tread. It was worse in the case the suspension, because even after downloading the tuning, you were not 100% sure what you were driving. Some cars simply sat very low or high by default and it was difficult to determine what the suspension type was. It is not possible determine the suspension settings in the tuning editor, because you cannot edit someone else's tuning. This hasn't changed in FH5. In addition, the performance simulator accurately calculates the maximum speed of the vehicle, so we do not have to rely on what the tuning mentioned before, this is a big plus.

Tire icons in the garage

We finally know what the tires are in the downloaded tuning, we also know what we are choosing when we modify the car ourselves. In the past, a good solution was to mark your car with a characteristic badge on the paintwork, or with the entire painting / body color. Now an additional icon with the type of tires appears next to each miniature in your garage, regardless of the season.

Different weather in different regions

A frequently asked question is: Can I change the season in Forza Horizon 5? The answer is no. It is still not possible in the open world, however the weather is not consistent across the entire map. In FH4 for example there would be snow all over the map in winter. Now it varies based on your location. For example in winter we have an ice rink in the stadium, snow around the volcano, but in the east it is sunny. Also, dust storms occur in the winter season in the west part of the map. In the fall season we will encounter tropical storms in the east. The age-old problem for people who do not like difficult or changing conditions has been solved, because now it is enough to move to another part of the map. Thanks to this, we are not overwhelmed with the changing of the seasons. A pleasant change for the game, with the variety of weather conditions over the entire open world.

The seasonal conditions accurately represent the seasons in Mexico:

Spring - hot season
Summer - rainy season
Autumn - the stormy season
Winter - dry season

Additional festivals

There are more festivals and each has its own specialty:

Mexico (Mainstage)
Apex (Road Racing)
Wilds (Dirt Racing)
Baja (Cross-Country Racing)
Rush (PR Stunts)
Street Scene (Street Racing)

The entire map is divided into six regions, and the festivals make up a kind of Capital in each of them. Not all of them are unlocked right away, but it's not that complicated, you just need to earn some accolade points by completing the challenges on the map. In theory, this is an interesting diversion, because for those who did not play before, in the previous part we had only one festival. In practice, however, it does not make much difference apart from the visual setting and additional challenges in many categories.

Changes in the paint editor

In FH5 we can create any type of paint design and vectors. If you have any paint jobs done in FH4 that took a lot of time, nothing is lost. With the help of the importer, you can easily transfer them to the new part of the game.

The editor itself has undergone a slight redesign, some elements have been moved to the left side, the sides of the car are visible at the top of the screen, otherwise nothing special has changed.

Upgraded achievement system

We had a lot of achievements in FH4 now we get even more, that are broken down into many categories. It is worth taking a look at the most important ones, for example those that can unlock free cars. Some of the Accolades can only be completed at certain times of the year. For instance, there is an Accolade where you have to smash snowmen, Christmas trees and candies with any Mazda. This can only be done during the holidays.

Earning achievements is the only way to unlock all the festivals. The tasks are quite varied as they involve smashing items, taking photos, racing, buying houses, finding new places and much much more.

Sending gifts

What can be done with an unwanted car? In FH4 we could either throw it away or auction it off. In FH5, we can also give it as a gift. Many players ask the question: How do I give a gift to a specific player? The disappointing reality is that you cannot. We can only select the group and the gift will be given to a random player within that group e.g. returning players, new players, etc. Is there any benefit for gifting? Yes, for the gifted players. You can always get a thank you from them. There is a Kudos counter displayed proudly in the main menu.

In addition, last season there was an unusual challenge to give out as many gifts as possible, and the total sum of gifts from all the players was counted. If the total number exceeded the threshold then everyone received bonus cars.

Playing online

Ranking and leagues

Ranked matches have been completely removed. Now you will simply play online competitions, with no leagues and no extra points. Everyone has an opinion on this, I personally like it. Players who wanted to have a higher position in the league just jumped between the competitions and as soon as they started losing, they left the game in order to not lose points. Racing with such people was more frustrating than fun.

Playground mode

There is a small downside here but maybe not for everyone. It was not commonly known that in FH4 there were individual competitions on the playground. The option was only available when we were creating a convoy competition. Now, in FH5 Playground games are randomly selected between individual or team competitions. It's a pity because when you in a convoy with friends you don't always want to play against each other, but for some players it can be an advantage.

Modified car performance

Your favorite FH4 car won't necessarily be that good in FH5. For example, the Ferrari 599XX Evolution was the best to break speed records. Now Koenigsegg Jesko is better and at the moment it is unbeatable for jumps (at high speeds from the street) and for speed traps. The Bone Shaker is no longer blocked in online competitions, you can clearly see that its performance has been lowered, but watch out! Many people still remember that the Bone Shaker was an unbeatable car and I was personally reprimanded by certain players for using it in a competition!

There are many changes, choosing the best cars will not be easy. As soon as it is clear and obvious, I will list the best in another article.

Is that all?! No

There are many more changes, but don't expect them to be a mind shattering.

List of selected changes:

More extensive character configuration system.
Much larger map, it is about 107 km2 (this is more than, for example GTA V). In FH4, the map was 72 km2.
Access from Steam platform on the release date.
Several different Forzathons at the same time, in different places on the map, and themed. A great solution because, for example, if you don't like drifting, you don't do the drifting Frozathon.
Automatic tuning - the car can be tuned with one click, without having to download them from other players.