Traveling by horse has become a popular method of travel in games, and looking back at some popular games from the past few years, this seems to only be increasing. Although this has undoubtedly been a popular way of travel in gaming for years, there are a handful of great modern games that opt for a focus on this idea.
In no particular order, here are 5 of the best games that let you travel on horseback.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Hearing Breath of the Wild’s gentle and uplifting melodies as you ride through Hyrule on horseback for the first time feels really special. The series’ famous triumphant orchestral score takes a backseat, shifting to soft piano music which makes for the perfect backdrop when galloping across Hyrule.
Horse riding is arguably the best way to take in the world’s scenery, although you won’t be able to take your noble steed into the Gerudo desert.
Breath of the Wild hosts a range of tameable horses with varied stamina, speed, and strength, and can also be found in a wide range of areas across the world. These horses can also either be wild or gentle in temperament, affecting how easy they are to tame and calm – and how much stamina is used in doing so.
Epona, Link’s trusty companion and arguably the best horse in the game – boasting a modest four stars in each stat and a gentle temperament – is available through activating the Smash Bros. Link amiibo, but isn’t accessible otherwise.
Breath of the Wild also hosts unique horses such as the Giant horse and the Royal horse which represent connections to Ganon and Zelda. Another unique horse is the Lord of the Mountain, a rarer horse which cannot be tamed and kept in a stable. This horse is found at Satori Mountain, a picturesque mountain with a lone cherry blossom tree, and makes for an interesting and fun find, albeit impractical in other gameplay.
Breath of the Wild also allows players to ride bears, deer, and other wildlife, although these cannot be tamed.
Red Dead Redemption 2
Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2 arguably has the most advanced horse riding of any recent game, and the best level of detail on the horses in any game today.
Similarly to bonding in Breath of the Wild, Red Dead Redemption 2 has a horse bonding/leveling system.
Increasing this bond can increase health and stamina, allow you to navigate deeper water and tougher terrain, whistle your horse from further away, and your horse will be less difficult to steal.
There are 19 different breeds, all of which fall into different categories, including riding, superior, war, work, draft, and race. These categories impact aspects like health, speed, acceleration, and stamina.
Horse items such as saddles, stirrups, and saddlebags also make a big difference in how useful and convenient your horse will be.
As mentioned, Red Dead Redemption 2’s level of horse detail is borderline ridiculous but is definitely commendable. Rockstar even went so far as to make horse testicles shrink when enduring cold weather.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Roach is Geralt’s trusty companion, and he makes traversing the Continent much, much easier.
The Witcher 3, like similar games, does allow for fast travel, but many missions require Roach to get the player to a location quickly.
Again, like in similar open world games, the player’s horse can be summoned on command when the player wishes – making Roach a helpful method of travel which can be accessed almost instantly.
Roach also makes for a welcomed company in longer, lonelier missions as Geralt fights monsters and men alike.
Although horse riding is a bit less fluid than in some other games mentioned here, traveling across the Continent on horseback is still practical and generally a breeze.
Axii, one of Geralt’s abilities, can also be used on wild horses and will make them rideable until they despawn.
Shadow of the Colossus
After first releasing on PlayStation 2 in 2005, Team Ico’s hit was remade by Bluepoint Games for PlayStation 4, allowing players to experience the game on this generation of consoles.
Wander is accompanied in an unwelcoming world by Argo, a horse who lends a hand in faster travel and in defeating some of the 16 colossi they face. Argo particularly acts as a companion in a lonely and bleak world, since Shadow of the Colossus lacks NPCs or frequent character interaction, Argo makes a daunting world seem a bit less so.
Agro is limited by obstacles and water in the environment so is not able to reach all colossi with Wander, limiting your time with them as you advance in your journey.
Agro also features a number of abilities which are particularly useful in battle. For instance, Wander can lean on Agro’s side, stand on Argo’s back, perform a quick stop, and a quick turn.
To add realism and character, Agro will occasionally ignore player commands, separating them for the obedient horses in many other titles.
Argo also has some significance in the story and is for this reason particularly memorable to a lot of players.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Horses in Skyrim are a good travel option for scaling terrain, which is also pretty affordable if you’ve accumulated a fair bit of gold on your travels.
Special mounts can also be obtained through completing questlines in both the base game and Dawnguard DLC, such as unique looking steeds Shadowmere and Arvak.
There are also missions which allow the player to acquire a free horse by quicker means. Defeating one stablehand will grant the player a free horse easily.
Hofgrir the Horse-Crusher lives at Riften stables and defeating him in a brawl is an easy task, granting travel by horse to even the newest players if they can take the carriage to Riften for a small fee.
This means there are options of acquiring horses for those who are against setting aside an initially sizeable few thousand gold, which in turn gives the player a much-needed increase in movement.
Horse riding in Skyrim could definitely be improved and is one of the areas where the game shows its age more so as horseriding can be a clunky experience.
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