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I have been following the development of The Legend of Khiimori for close to a year now. And from the very beginning, the game intrigued me. When I then got the chance to play at Gamescom, I was smitten. But then came the demo, and that certainly reined in my enthusiasm quite a bit. Now that the game is out in Early Access, I’ve been able to play for more than an hour at a time, and my preliminary verdict is in.
The Legend of Khiimori: An Extraordinary Setting
What stands out about Khiimori is its setting. The game is set in the Mongolian steppe and puts you in the shoes of a yam courier. It is your duty to deliver parcels all across the Mongolian wilderness on horseback. And while the idea is most certainly there and has potential, the game does not quite live up to its incredible setting just yet.
But I do enjoy the Mongolian soundtrack, amazing voice acting, and subtle details. I just think that, in the future, the game could further improve its setting. That could be done by giving us a bit more insight into where we are, why we are, and who we are. Because even without an intense narrative structure, these little details can be conveyed to the player through small interactions and subtle exposure.
The Open World: Amazing But Empty
I love Khiimori’s open world. I know some people take issue with Unreal Engine graphics, but I think the game looks beautiful. It’s large, it’s diverse, and it is insanely fun to explore. Unfortunately, it is also empty. Apart from a few wild horses and a group of bunnies near Tov, there isn’t much to be seen apart from the beautiful landscapes.
Where are the deer jumping out from the trees as I ride through the forest? A flock of birds taking off as I draw near on the open plains? A frog jumping into the water as I fight my way through the mud? Perhaps even a trader leading his wounded horse along a rocky path?
Right now, Khiimori’s open world feels like a proof of concept. And it works. But now that the concept has been proven, it needs to be fleshed out, and a group of bunnies that always stays in the same location just doesn’t quite do the job. You’ve made a beautiful world, now it’s time to make it feel alive.
But there are already things that work very well. One of those is the weather. And while I personally wish it weren’t so confined to a small area, it works. While riding up a mountain, I got caught in a snowstorm, and visibility became a serious problem. I had to slow down, constantly check my map, and ride carefully to avoid becoming lost. The weather felt like a real challenge.
My Personal Highlight: The Horses
From the moment I first saw the game, I knew that the horses were going to be my favorite thing about it. And now that I have spent several hours with them, that remains true. I love the horse model. I love the beautiful coat colors. And I love the animations.
The traits add a nice touch and make each horse feel a little more unique, though there is certainly room for improvement. For example, I can’t really tell the difference between a horse with 400 balance vs a horse with 125 balance. Both stumble and fall as soon as my cargo is ever so slightly unbalanced. I would welcome a bit more nuance here. Perhaps a horse with a high balance stat can tolerate slightly off-balance cargo without falling, while a horse with a low balance stat takes even more damage during a fall.
Training Your Horse: An Ethical Dilemma
Once the game awarded me my own horse, I discovered many ways to train it. And while most of these training options are what you would expect, some are less… conventional.
It took me around 2 hours to figure out that the fastest way to train your horse is to break its bones, lower its health to a minimum, and make sure it’s sufficiently terrified while you ride through the forest. And now, whenever I saddle up, my first thought is “what’s the quickest way to cripple this horse?” Some people might call it cruel and unusual punishment. I call it an effective training session. And as my horse and I return to Tov, its bones shattered, its spirit broken, I can’t help but think of how this experience has made us stronger as a team.
By doing exactly what I described above, you can train Strength, Endurance, Agility, and Spirit at the same time. If you want to optimize further, you can slightly unbalance your cargo to add Balance training as well. But I have found that at that point, your horse’s mood decreases so quickly, training becomes less efficient overall.
I’m sure that my “training method” is not what the developers intended. But I hope they do not patch it, as it does make the game feel a bit more… morally complex. Are you willing to purposefully cripple your horse for a training shortcut? If so, make sure to grab plenty of cowberries. You’ll need them as your horse certainly won’t be happy.
The Concept of Khiimori: Surprisingly Fun
I was most worried that the game would become boring quickly. After all, the core gameplay loop is essentially one big fetch quest. But surprisingly, even once I figured out my immediate surroundings, the game stayed fun. Mostly because I was planning my routes around training my horse and managing my cargo.
Certain types of cargo can’t be exposed to water, mud, or rocky terrain. So, at the core of planning your routes, you’re considering how to transport as much cargo as possible to as many locations while maintaining its quality. And when you add training your new horse to that, it actually becomes very engaging.
The breeding mechanics are fine, I guess. I haven’t played around with the breeding system too much. So far, I have come to the conclusion that some features are still missing, which is fine for early access, and breeding an insanely talented horse is super easy. Perhaps a bit too easy. But I will have to do some more testing to confirm.
Performance: Buyers Beware
The one major downside to The Legend of Khiimori is the performance. My PC is a gaming beast, and it runs Khiimori’s Early Access version at the highest settings with ease. But I’d argue that most horse game players do not own an overclocked 4090, a high-powered i9, and 64 GB of DDR5 RAM. And those people may run into problems.
So if you’re unsure if your system can handle the game, be very careful. You may end up with an experience that either does not look like the screenshots you see flying around or runs poorly. The Legend of Khiimori is very demanding, and my PC has a harder time running Khiimori than it does running, for example, Starfield or Black Ops 6.
But the game’s overall performance has improved significantly since the demo. So if you had some issues during the demo, you may be pleasantly surprised jumping into Early Access. It seems the team has taken player feedback to heart and has worked hard to optimize their game. You love to see it.
Final Conclusion: Khiimori Is A Lot of Fun
Last year’s demo had me worried, I won’t lie. The controls felt clunky, the game ran terribly, and it just wasn’t really all that fun. A large part of that was because of how the demo worked. If your progress doesn’t matter, you’re immediately going to be a lot less invested.
But now that Early Access is here, I am once again hopeful for the future of this game. I like The Legend of Khiimori, and I want the game to succeed. So while I still have a lot of criticism, it comes from a place of kindness and a desire to see the game live up to its full potential. And I think there is a lot of potential here.
