Forza Horizon 6 Character Models Are Getting Roasted, but Does It Really Affect Driving?

Forza Horizon 6 has become a flashpoint across Reddit, Steam, and the game’s official forums, where players have been arguing over its character models and customization tools. The latest wave of criticism took off after users posted in-game character screenshots, and the complaints have stayed focused on three things: NPC modeling, stiff facial animation, and newly added character setup options. The split is real, but so is the broader context: despite the backlash, the game remains highly popular.

The reason this has blown up is not simple nitpicking. The contrast is just too obvious. By most player accounts, the cars, tracks, and scenery look top-tier, with the kind of visual polish people expect from a flagship racing series. Then the camera cuts to a face, and the mood changes immediately. A large number of players say the expressions look rigid, the facial features feel off, and the overall result is oddly unattractive.

The criticism also goes beyond "these characters look bad." A common complaint is that too many background characters look broadly the same, with very little distinction from one face to the next. Some players have gone further, saying the cast looks as if it was mass-produced by AI. That phrasing is harsh, but it gets at the center of the dispute: for these players, the problem is not just technical quality, but the lack of human individuality.

As the discussion spread, some players began linking the overall character direction to current diversity-focused design trends. The specific complaints include the addition of multiple body-type templates, special pronoun labels, and NPC everyday dialogue that leans toward a uniform, upbeat tone. For that camp, the issue is not increased freedom in itself, but a style of presentation that feels overly deliberate and out of place in a Horizon game that is supposed to feel loose, effortless, and fun.

There is, however, a clear opposing camp. Supporters argue that Forza Horizon 6 is fundamentally an open-world racing game, and that what actually determines its value is driving feel, vehicle variety, and track and environmental design, not whether an NPC holds up under close inspection in a cutscene. In their view, side characters are decorative, not the point, and the reaction has become larger than the issue itself.

Both sides are reacting to something real. Critics say the faces feel uncanny, stylistically inconsistent, and lacking in personality. Some also argue that the series as a whole keeps getting more visually refined, while pedestrian and supporting character design somehow keeps getting stranger, which hurts immersion during story scenes. Others point out that while the trackside vistas and car models are among the best in the business, the faces look rough enough to belong to a much older game.

Even so, this controversy has not meaningfully dented the game’s momentum. Although the negative response to character modeling is ongoing, and the early access pricing has also remained controversial, Forza Horizon 6 is still sitting near the top of Steam’s popular racing games. Player counts remain high, and its overall market heat has not taken any obvious hit from the criticism.

That leads to a fairly practical takeaway. If you are here purely for racing, scenery, car collecting, drifting, and speed, this character-model debate probably will not change your buying decision much; the higher early access price is the more relevant factor to weigh. But if you care a lot about character creation, cutscene presentation, and visual consistency across the whole package, it makes sense to wait, check more community screenshots, and watch more hands-on footage first.

This article was produced and published by Gamersky. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.