Wanting to get one of these games, which one is the better game?

For me personally, Forza 6 blows Horizon 2 out of the water, but I just like don't like arcade style racers. So it really depends on if you want an open world, arcade racer, or a Sim.

I love arcade racers, I bought Forza Horizon 2 on launch and I am still playing it.

I guess it depends if you like sim racers or arcade racers.

I've played all the Forzas except 6 and am playing through Horizon 2 now. There are some really annoying things to me in Horizon 2 and I honestly prefer 5 and Horizon 1 to Horizon 2. I'm surprised since I thought 2 would be better than Horizon 1. I think I will much prefer the circuit racing of 6, but I got Horizon 2 on the cheap, since it is a bit old now and I did enjoy Horizon 1.

They're completely different games. Do you want Arcade or Simcade?

I love both, but they fill different needs. Forza 6 I will only use a wheel with only ABS on. Horizon 2 is all controller with damage ignored.

Lots to do in Horizon and the open-world is a blast, but one is an apple and the other is an orange. Just watch some videos and decide which one you want to play more.

I'm not sure FH2 counts as an "arcade" racer. I'll grant that FM6 is "simmier" in feel, and that FH2 is gentler with crashes/offroad, but FH2 seems to handle like an FM game in the essential aspects, e.g. expecting me to slow down before I get to a corner, unlike a Need for Speed, Ridge Racer or Mario Kart.

@tycobb: how can you stand ABS? I couldn't figure out why my cornering was going to shit in FM6 until I realized I'd left ABS on.

@fnrslvr: New/cheap pedals. Not much resistance even with the conical mod. I may turn it off. It's the only thing left, but still getting used to this game and wheel. Figured the brakes need more attention than what I can give right now.

I actually wish I could hook up my G27 pedals since it has all of the Nixim springs installed.

I like FH2 way more.
It all depends what type of racer you like really.

I like Forza 6 way way more. The driving alone and the controller feedback never gets old.

They're both superb. I think I prefer Forza Horizon 2, but a lot of that has to do with sentimentality. Fast & Furious 7, as wonderfully dumb and bizarre as it was, got me back into racing games after a decade long break... and so I booted up my free copy of The Crew that Ubisoft gave me in compensation for AC: Unity. The open world version of the U.S. in that was impressive, but the rubberbanding AI, mission design, awkward use of Ubisoft open world tropes (AC / Far Cry towers to reveal side missions... in a car game?), excessive micro-transaction rubbish, and lamentable dearth of cars if you didn't indulge in the season pass or micro-transactions all drove me up the wall. Then, I bought Forza Horizon 2... followed by Forza Horizon, the Forza Horizon Fast & Furious thingy, Forza Motorsport 5, and now this.

You can't really go wrong here. At worst, I'd say that Forza Motorsport 6's default driver settings put a few too many training wheels on you. I always left the settings on medium in the Forza Horizon games, but if you do that here the computer overtly helps you steer, automatically brakes you before turns, and so on. I'd find myself trying to see how much speed I could get away with in a curvy section of a track when all of a sudden my engine would cut out, my controller would stop vibrating to signify a lack of oomph in my rig, my wheels would move against my wishes to keep me near the middle of the road, and I'd be down to second gear going "NO!" :-D So, yeah... you may want to switch some of those default assists off as soon as possible if you go with that one.

Edit addition: Hm, you know what's weird? It never occurred to me, but I didn't really switch too many default settings in Forza Motorsport 5. I just kind of went with it at medium, and I never noticed any handholding quite like what I got in those first couple races in Forza Motorsport 6 pre-assist tweaking. I should look at the assist options in each game and see if they amped them up for this new one, but I probably won't. Leaving this a cold case. :-P

Tough question. I've pondered this one myself. I think Forza 6 is in many ways a better overall game, but I enjoyed Forza Horizon 2 more. In fact, FH2 is one of my favorite games ever, and I can't say the same for Forza 6. Still, Forza 6 runs at a buttery-smooth 60 FPS, and the wet/night races in particular are some of the best pure racing ever in a video game. If 30 FPS (locked-in) isn't a deal-breaker for you, the FH2 world is incredible, with generally better background textures than Forza 6 and the awesome day/night cycle and weather. Both games look terrific, but given that only certain tracks on Forza 6 have wet/night options, I have to say the dynamic weather, day/night cycle, and the fact that no texture on FH2 really looks sub-par wins out over Forza 6's 60 FPS. If they combine the incredible wet racing physics from Forza 6 with the dynamism from FH2, Horizon 3 will be incredible.

Driving-wise, it's a tough call as well. Seeing some of the world's best tracks lovingly recreated and being able to do the next best thing to racing them in real-life is pretty damn cool. However, the sheer joy of just cruising through the beautiful world of Horizon 2 and appreciating the art and detail along the way is a sublime experience in gaming rivaled only by the best of the GTA series. The physics of Forza 6 are obviously better and more realistic, but it's great fun tearing through Tuscan vineyards in FH2. I think the preference here is determined by how hardcore of a racer you are. If you're into motorsport, taking proper racing lines, et al., Forza 6 is your game. If you are a casual racer who's happy looking at pretty things and bumping around, Horizon 2 is all kinds of fun. I personally fall somewhere in the middle and can appreciate both, but I can understand how people wanting a sim racer might not like FH2 that much and people wanting an arcade racer might not like Forza 6. FWIW, the "arcade" physics of Horizon 2 toe the line between fun/realism as well as any game has, IMO, and the "sim" physics of Forza 6 can be adjusted to be pretty damn realistic.

Both games are very, very good at what they do. I recommend picking both up, but if you're only getting one, I'd probably recommend Horizon 2. It has a broader appeal to where it can be enjoyed by just about anyone who gives it a fair shake, and you should be able to get it cheaper than Forza 6 right now. Horizon 2 is among the best games of this generation so far; maybe the best. Unless you really prefer track-based racing or 60 FPS, you'll probably have more fun with Horizon 2. That's no slight on Forza 6, which is absolutely a quality game in its own right. You can't really go wrong with either.