AAA video game maximalism in its most joyous form, Forza Horizon 5 is simply about how cool and fun it is to drive cars. Fast cars, big cars, stupid cars... as long as you're driving them somewhere interesting. Mexico is a much better locale than the United Kingdom but I will admit that I'm mixed on the idea of ripping my baja truck through some ruins. I'll just baja somewhere else.

I look at the map in this thing and see an absurd, frankly sickening amount of open world icons. The kind that annoy me in most other games, but Forza Horizon 5 makes me a hypocrite. It's just too much fun to drive. Everything handles so well. Especially my darling 90s Toyota Baja Truck.

Probably the only game of its kind, very online and player-retention obsessed, that will actually retain me. I did spend 100 dollars to play it early after all. Might as well spend time with it in between other games for the next year or two. You made me a sucker, Playground Games.