Ended up not disliking it as much as I thought I would at the beginning, yet I can't help but feel this was a wasted opportunity especially for a licensed IP.
A 2D side-scrolling metroidvania action-platformer with some good aspects to it that ultimately needed a bit more care.
As someone who doesn't do racing games, dropped FH4 after a few hours, didn't try FH5 & doesn't care about cars, my enjoyment of this shocked me.
But more than a racer, Forza Horizon 6 is a fun-filled sprawling canvas you can use to paint any shenanigans you want. Had a blast.