Journey across the Mongolian Steppe making deliveries and raising horses in Windstorm: The Legend of Khiimori, an open-world exploration game developed by German studio Aesir Interactive. Currently in Early Access on PC and consoles, the game places players in 13th Century Mongolia, riding across a vast landscape as a courier while learning to care for and breed horses.
The Legend of Khiimori at a Glance
The Legend of Khiimori centers on two core loops: delivering goods to people scattered across the map, and raising and breeding horses. Players pick up quests asking them to explore nearby regions or carry cargo, then plan a route to complete their objective. After the tutorial, quests become optional , players can set off freely to discover new settlements, customers, and regions at their own pace. Horses are acquired by purchasing them from merchants, taming wild horses, or using the game's detailed breeding system.
Gameplay
Survival Mechanics
The Legend of Khiimori First Impressions
The Legend of Khiimori features basic survival mechanics tied to both the protagonist Naraa and her horses. Naraa has two meters to monitor: food and water, both replenished from inventory items. Horses share these two meters and add a third , mood. Horses can graze and drink from bodies of water on their own when Naraa is not riding them, but their mood will drop under poor weather, when they are too dirty, or when cargo weight throws them off balance. Players can restore a horse's mood by petting, brushing, tending to hooves, or applying items that protect against environmental conditions.
Routing and Navigation
The Legend of Khiimori First Impressions
There is no fast travel in The Legend of Khiimori , horses are the only means of crossing the Steppe. To help manage the vast distances, the game includes a routing feature within the map. Players place waypoints along their desired path, choosing between established roads or shortcuts through rough terrain. Each waypoint disappears once Naraa reaches it, revealing the next one. This system encourages experimentation, letting players discover the fastest routes or the ones that are gentlest on their horses.
Horse Stats and Skills
The Legend of Khiimori First Impressions
Horses have five trainable stats that expand their capabilities and unlock individual skills: Strength, Agility, Endurance, Balance, and Spirit. Stats improve naturally through riding, with each activity contributing to a specific stat. For example, Strength increases when a horse rides at full health, swims, or climbs slopes. As stats increase, horses unlock skills inherited from their parents. The Balance skill Surefooted reduces stamina loss while climbing slopes, while the Endurance skill Constitution raises maximum health.
Breeding System
The Legend of Khiimori First Impressions
The Legend of Khiimori uses a breeding system inspired by real-world genetics. Players spend resources to raise or lower the probability of specific genes appearing in offspring, giving them control over a foal's appearance. Breeding also allows players to combine skills from two horses, producing offspring suited to a particular playstyle. Foals inherit traits from both parents , these act as specific buffs and debuffs, such as retaining more stamina in a tailwind or losing mood when swimming. Mastering the breeding system lets players raise horses that match both their riding style and aesthetic preferences.
Taming Wild Horses
The Legend of Khiimori First Impressions
Players can also acquire horses by taming them in the wild. Throwing an animal lure triggers a taming minigame in which players must keep Naraa in front of the horse and at a safe distance. After a successful tame, players can review the horse's stats, traits, and abilities before choosing to ride it or send it back to camp. Animal lures are not guaranteed to work , the horse must approach the lure's cloud to begin the taming sequence , so carrying multiple lures at all times is recommended.
What Works
The Legend of Khiimori First Impressions
The Legend of Khiimori is at its best when treated as a relaxing, player-driven experience. Riding off the beaten path lets the world speak for itself, with hidden treasures, new people, and lost settlements waiting to be discovered. Focusing on deliveries is satisfying, but setting aside quest markers and simply exploring reveals far more of the Steppe.
The game does a strong job of delivering the courier experience. Repeat deliveries to familiar characters can feel repetitive at first, but routes gradually become committed to memory. Players begin navigating without the map, discovering shortcuts and alternate paths, and finding ways to optimize delivery runs. This process genuinely helps players feel like a courier cementing trade routes across a living world.
The Legend of Khiimori First Impressions
The survival mechanics, taming system, and breeding combine to give players many ways to bond with their horses. Horses depend on Naraa just as much as she depends on them, and their individual traits and abilities make each one feel distinct. The taming mechanic creates a natural starting point for that relationship, while foals carrying forward their parents' traits make the lineage feel meaningful. The game excels at encouraging players to grow alongside their horses through the ongoing responsibility of caring for them.
What Doesn't Work
As an Early Access title, The Legend of Khiimori has noticeable rough edges. The characters and core gameplay loop are shallow at this stage. Naraa and the supporting cast lack depth, and dialogue is minimal , the introduction Naraa uses when establishing trade with a new character is reused across most NPCs. Outside of the tutorial, character interactions are limited, and none of the quests develop these characters further. Quests are straightforward deliveries that end with two to three lines of dialogue before sending players back to camp for more. This is expected to improve as development continues, but players seeking a compelling narrative will be disappointed for now.
Bugs are another symptom of Early Access. While rarely game-breaking, they appear and disappear unpredictably and do detract from the experience. Certain button prompts for interacting with horses only register when Naraa stands in a precise spot, then work perfectly at other times. These issues are manageable but worth knowing about before purchasing.
Stamina management is also a point of friction. A horse's top-speed endurance depends on its stamina, which drains when sprinting, climbing slopes, crossing rough terrain, or moving through water. Stamina recovers slowly outside of ideal conditions, and riding into the wind can halt recovery entirely. Players expecting a fast horseback fantasy may find movement across the map slow and tedious. Stamina-related abilities that ease recovery and retention exist, but they are not available until after the tutorial. Even with those unlocked, stamina management can feel at odds with the sense of freedom the game otherwise tries to deliver.
Overall Thoughts
The Legend of Khiimori took some getting used to, but settled into a genuinely enjoyable experience once the tutorial was behind us. Balancing deliveries with open exploration is calming, and the world rewards patience and curiosity. There is clear room for growth, and as an Early Access release from Aesir Interactive, that is to be expected. At its core, The Legend of Khiimori wants to remind players that life is about the journey , and that taking the road less traveled can be its own reward.
The Legend of Khiimori is available on Steam, Epic Games, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S. Players interested in Early Access can purchase and play it today.