Playground Games has released the second part of its ongoing three-part The Art of Driving series to celebrate the upcoming May 19th launch of Forza Horizon 6. While the first episode, released last week, focused on car photographer and host Larry Chen journeying to Tohoku alongside artist DRAGON76 (Satoshi Fujita), this time around, Chen is accompanied by Kazuhisa Uragami in his trip to Kyushu.
Another major change in episode 2 is the method of transportation. While the first episode featured a Toyota Land Cruiser, this time around, Chen and Uragami will be journeying in a Honda Civic Type R.
“Stop number two takes us south to Kyushu… Japan’s southern island,” says Chen in the introduction of the video. “A region shaped by active volcanoes, heavy industry, and a gateway for cultural exchange.” Starting the journey from Kitakyushu, Chen rolls up in his Type R to pick up Uragami.
“This is my first time driving the Honda Civic FL5. What you’re looking at is a K20C1. It’s a 2-litre inline-four turbo engine with VTEC. Out of this small engine, it makes 315 horsepower. The Type R moniker has never been about all-out speed. It’s about driving feel and fun. My favorite part about this is the fact that it’s a normal usable vehicle,” explains Chen.
The Art of Driving has been a series with which Playground Games has hoped to highlight some of the artists it is working with to create in-game murals for Forza Horizon 6. The studio had announced a collaboration with nine artists earlier this month, which includes Fujita and Uragami. Fujita had spoken about how his in-game mural blends cyberpunk elements with fantasy and was inspired by the Nebuta Festival.
“The Nebuta Festival features massive, illuminated floats called ‘nebuta,’ constructed from washi paper and wire, often depicting figures from Japanese mythology. For this piece, I reimagined one of the most frequently portrayed mythological figures, Susanoo-no-Mikoto, along with a dragon, and rendered them in a near-futuristic style,” he said.
More details about Forza Horizon 6 had recently been revealed thanks to its list of earnable Achievements. Playground Games has confirmed that, in total, players can earn 57 Achievements, which all add up to a Gamerscore of 1,000. These Achievements will range from simple accomplishments like winning race qualifiers and progressing through the campaign to more complex ones, like growing your garage and getting your hands on rare vehicles.
The studio also recently gave us a look at the opening minutes of Forza Horizon 6, which features a drive through the Japanese countryside in a 2024 Nissan GT-R Nismo, with a high-speed bullet train next to the road. After this, the game then jumps to the mountainous sections of the Japanese Alps, putting players behind the wheel of a 2021 RJ Anderson #37 Polaris RZR Pro 4 Truck. For more details, check out the prologue trailer.
Forza Horizon 6 is coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. Players who are looking forward to getting into the game earlier than the planned release date can grab the Premium Edition, which includes advanced access starting on May 15th.
