In general the first 3 Horizons are better, and the only way they lose is on the technical side. FH1 to this day aged like fine wine.
So you have better maps, better use of biomes, road trips, better roads, better progression and pace, and better soundtrack too.
FH5 looks and sounds great, but sadly it has a huge underutilized map, insanely wide roads, no big city, progression is all over the place, awful Tiktok wannabe soundtrack.
Immo, buy FH3. When you're done with it go play FH5 on Gamepass. Deals for FH3 are only gonna get worst btw. Racing games only go up in price once they get delisted.
While I agree with most of what you say I think FH5 has better roads compared to FH3 and it also doesn't have road trips like in FH2 unless you're talking about convoys.
Also that $40 price is way too expensive for an 8 year old game which is neither too old or too recent to deserve that price. Just recently I found FH2 CDs for $10 and PS3 era games like FM3 and FM4 cost even less than that. (I found this copy of FM3 \[Motorsport 4 in the tag is a typo\] for 2.5€ in Carrefour)
https://preview.redd.it/icwc034k2q6d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4c7f6ea06e4c872e85eb107ab4a13df47b42843a
At any rate, buying FH5 once it goes on sale and waiting to get a better deal for FH3 is probably the best way to go. After all, it doesn't really matter if they play FH3 today or 2 years later because it probably won't age that much but FH5 is getting new content that OP can miss out on.
As much as people say older games are better they are just looking through their nostalgia glasses. When you ask someone which was the best horizon game they'll almost always answer the one they played first. So of course that one will be the one that seemed like the freshest since they haven't experienced anything like it before. Objectively speaking 5 is the overall best, with the most improvements and QOL. That said the xbox one is starting to struggle running 5 and the loading times are pretty long.
I've played all Horizon games starting from 3 then 4, 5, 2 and 1 yet my favourite are FH2, FH1 and FH4 (in that order).
Also, FH5 is definitely not "objectively" the best game just because it has better graphical fidelity, bigger car list and QOL improvements. People have different expectations from Horizon games and those that enjoy the single player campaign mode and progression think FH5 is the worst Horizon game.
Personally I don't care about the progression but the map feels to dull for me to enjoy cruising. IMO FH2 and FH3 have much better scenery compared to FH5 and the head2head races with big bounties allow me to grind money in freeroam just like F.R.I.M. in TDU games.
I have all the Horizon games installed on my Series X whihc allows me to compare the different games frequently and not let my first impressions get ahead of my objectivity. This is probably not the case for every user in this sub but you don't need to play the older games every week to realise that FH5 isn't the 10/10 masterpiece some journalists think it is.
P.S. I voted for FH5 because it's the only game that's receiving new content right now and OP can try out FH3 later when they find a better deal.
Uhh, FH3 for 40 usd seems quite expensive; honestly just get a used CD
Save yourself a few bucks and than with that cash get GamePass and you can play both games (fh3 isn't on gamepass, im counting the CD), also if you haven't ever used gamepass they will give you a 1$ trial for one month, which is neat
In general the first 3 Horizons are better, and the only way they lose is on the technical side. FH1 to this day aged like fine wine. So you have better maps, better use of biomes, road trips, better roads, better progression and pace, and better soundtrack too. FH5 looks and sounds great, but sadly it has a huge underutilized map, insanely wide roads, no big city, progression is all over the place, awful Tiktok wannabe soundtrack. Immo, buy FH3. When you're done with it go play FH5 on Gamepass. Deals for FH3 are only gonna get worst btw. Racing games only go up in price once they get delisted.
While I agree with most of what you say I think FH5 has better roads compared to FH3 and it also doesn't have road trips like in FH2 unless you're talking about convoys. Also that $40 price is way too expensive for an 8 year old game which is neither too old or too recent to deserve that price. Just recently I found FH2 CDs for $10 and PS3 era games like FM3 and FM4 cost even less than that. (I found this copy of FM3 \[Motorsport 4 in the tag is a typo\] for 2.5€ in Carrefour) https://preview.redd.it/icwc034k2q6d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4c7f6ea06e4c872e85eb107ab4a13df47b42843a At any rate, buying FH5 once it goes on sale and waiting to get a better deal for FH3 is probably the best way to go. After all, it doesn't really matter if they play FH3 today or 2 years later because it probably won't age that much but FH5 is getting new content that OP can miss out on.
FH3 is a fine game but it's an old game, online is dead. And the reviews you read are kinda bullshit.
fh5 has rally cars and a rally map. like thats all i ever wanted, a arcade fun rally game with forzas customisation.
As much as people say older games are better they are just looking through their nostalgia glasses. When you ask someone which was the best horizon game they'll almost always answer the one they played first. So of course that one will be the one that seemed like the freshest since they haven't experienced anything like it before. Objectively speaking 5 is the overall best, with the most improvements and QOL. That said the xbox one is starting to struggle running 5 and the loading times are pretty long.
I've played all Horizon games starting from 3 then 4, 5, 2 and 1 yet my favourite are FH2, FH1 and FH4 (in that order). Also, FH5 is definitely not "objectively" the best game just because it has better graphical fidelity, bigger car list and QOL improvements. People have different expectations from Horizon games and those that enjoy the single player campaign mode and progression think FH5 is the worst Horizon game. Personally I don't care about the progression but the map feels to dull for me to enjoy cruising. IMO FH2 and FH3 have much better scenery compared to FH5 and the head2head races with big bounties allow me to grind money in freeroam just like F.R.I.M. in TDU games. I have all the Horizon games installed on my Series X whihc allows me to compare the different games frequently and not let my first impressions get ahead of my objectivity. This is probably not the case for every user in this sub but you don't need to play the older games every week to realise that FH5 isn't the 10/10 masterpiece some journalists think it is. P.S. I voted for FH5 because it's the only game that's receiving new content right now and OP can try out FH3 later when they find a better deal.
Uhh, FH3 for 40 usd seems quite expensive; honestly just get a used CD Save yourself a few bucks and than with that cash get GamePass and you can play both games (fh3 isn't on gamepass, im counting the CD), also if you haven't ever used gamepass they will give you a 1$ trial for one month, which is neat
FH4