Playground Games knew from the start that bringing the Forza Horizon franchise to Japan meant more than just recreating Tokyo's streets and mountain passes. The racing series, known for letting players demolish nearly everything in their path for points and pure mayhem, would need to pump the brakes on cultural landmarks.
Design director Torben Ellert explained the decision in a recent interview. While the game lets you barrel through most scenery, three categories of Japanese cultural elements are completely indestructible: cherry blossom trees, shrines, and temples. The reasoning goes deeper than avoiding complaints.
Cherry blossoms carry centuries of meaning in Japan. The pink blooms symbolize rebirth and spring's arrival, but they also carry the sobering message that life is fleeting. Farmers once made offerings beneath the trees hoping field spirits would ensure good harvests. By the 800s, emperors and nobles had turned cherry blossom viewing into a celebrated pastime. Today, hanami parties continue that tradition, with crowds gathering under the trees for picnics and celebration.
The trees themselves are fragile in reality. Japan's laws prohibit damaging cherry blossoms in public parks, with violators facing fines. Some of the nation's oldest specimens exceed 1,000 years and carry protected status as national treasures.
"Almost all trees in the game are smashable to ensure that traversing the world map is both fun and rewarding," Ellert said. "However, several tree types are not, for example the cherry blossom trees, because they're an iconic element of Japanese culture."
The decision on shrines and temples reflected lessons learned from another studio's stumble. Last year, Ubisoft faced significant backlash in Japan when previews of Assassins Creed Shadows showed players could wreck shrine interiors. The company rushed out a day-one patch making shrine objects indestructible and preventing bloodshed animations on sacred ground. Forza's developers took that controversy as a blueprint for what not to do.
"Certain temples or other cultural elements are also excluded so that players aren't tempted to drive through shrines or locations of cultural importance," Ellert explained.
The studio didn't wing the Japan setting. Playground Games hired cultural consultant Kyoko Yamashita, a former Porsche ambassador, to guide their depiction of the country and its automotive culture. Ellert acknowledged the risk of overconfidence. "Because it's a culture we see a lot, there's a temptation to think you know it better than you do, which is why we tried really hard to get people to course correct us if we were drifting," he told The Guardian.
The game hits PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on May 19, though players who grabbed the premium edition are already racing.
Author Emily Chen: "It's refreshing to see a studio learn from another's misstep and actually do the homework instead of treating cultural sensitivity as a PR afterthought."
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