Finally someone has threaded the needle between survival game and horse girl sim

As my dapple grey Mongolian trudges through a foot of snow up the last hill into a remote mountain village, my character Naraa lifts her forearm to block the glare of the setting sun. For a moment, the shadows on the trails my horse's hooves leave in the powder remind me of the same beautiful effect in Red Dead Redemption 2 and I think to myself: You know, The Legend of Khiimori might just be the one that puts horse games on the map. After it gets through early access, that is.

The Legend of Khiimori is an open world survival sim where you play as a horse courier in 13th century Mongolia. I've jokingly called it 'Death Stranding but horses' and, after playing six hours myself, that description really isn't too far off. Naraa the courier has to make deliveries between Mongolia's historical Yam postal stations, connect more stations to the Yam network, balance the weight distribution in her mount's saddlebags, and chart slow and thoughtful routes through the hills of the steppe.

It is a bit weird playing a survival game where my player character is effectively immortal and the only meters I'm managing are actually for my horse: food, water, mood, stamina, and health. I quickly learn that galloping all over the map isn't the right way to play Khiimori. My mount's stamina depletes fast if I run too long, more so if I don't stick to the dirt roads. I'm encouraged to keep things to a nice trot, maybe a canter, and pick up to the occasional gallop over long open stretches of road. That delineation between horse gaits, and the incentive to mind them, is a detail I know equestrians love and one I got the hang of without much hassle.

The simulated elements of Khiimori's horsemanship are demanding enough that I don't at all miss having human survival to manage. I need to plot routes across the map that will pass by water sources for my mount to drink at and replenish her water meter. I've got to remember to organize the items in my saddle inventory after accepting a delivery because if I canter away with bad weight distribution my horse will almost definitely stumble and need a bandage to remove her wounded debuff.

Along the way I can hunt rabbits and deer in the plains or pick herbs and resources for crafting repellants and potions. I particularly enjoy the route planning where I carefully plot markers on the map that will appear as I ride to help guide me along the correct roads. One of my favorite little details has to be the way my horse will autonomously choose to refill her own food meter by grazing when I dismount near grassy areas.

It goes deeper than that still. Each horse has stat meters for strength, agility, endurance, balance, and spirit. These are attributes you can train up in ways that feel surprisingly natural. Improve agility by galloping at top speed or boost their strength by riding with heavy cargo or through muddy conditions. Each individual horse has different caps on its trainable attributes, and breeding wild horses you've tamed can result in stronger mounts.

There's not much combat in Khiimori but there are optional "corrupted zones" where you'll fight spirits with your bow. There are also early quests that will take you through wooded areas where wolves may spook or even attack your horse if you don't craft a throwable repellant to chase them off. The fact that the planned "peaceful mode" isn't implemented yet may be a deal-breaker for some players.

Reining it in

Horse games get a bad rap—one they've fairly earned, unfortunately. Almost none have struck a middle ground between accurate horse stuff and excellent gameplay. It's always either a very detailed horse experience that makes me think "good for you, sweetie" because it's too in the weeds or underdeveloped for a casual horse appreciator like me to play, or great games like Red Dead Redemption 2 and Breath of the Wild that have beautiful mounts but aren't really about horses.

The Legend of Khiimori feels so achingly close to threading that needle. It's a compelling survival and exploration sim, but I've hit one progress blocking quest bug already. On top of that, the early access doesn't have a main story implemented yet, so it's mostly free roaming delivery quests and making your own fun by breeding, training, and exploring.

It's a beautiful game too, most of the time, anyway. NPCs have awkward facial animations and glitches. The lighting at dawn and dusk is weirdly flat. But it has just as many moments when it's stunningly beautiful as I let my mount splash through the muddly bank of a river to take a drink. This thing has good bones.

There's reason to be skeptical of buying into the early access for Legend of Khiimori, though. Its developer Aesir Interactive has a bit of a reputation for not following through on updates to the degree players wanted in its prior horse game Emerald Valley Ranch and it would be a shame for Khiimori to meet the same fate.

Khiimori's current state feels worth it for the players who are personally invested in the success of horse games, but not quite ready yet for gamers at large. My impression right out of the gate though is that it has the pedigree of a winner if it can just hit that 1.0 launch finish line.