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The fresh ideas in video game development are a very commendable feat, and they always put a smile on my face. Seeing the developers trying to make something new and different is almost always praiseworthy in my books. However, good ideas and different approaches must be backed by quality, or the entire thing might just collapse.
The Legend of Khiimori is a pure example of everything said above. Imagine a game where you play as a courier in Mongolia during the thirteenth century; the very theme and setting are already intriguing, right? This period of time is hardly treated in video games, apart from some games like Ghost of Tsushima, where Mongols are our main enemies and villains. However, I cannot recall a single video game where the Mongols are good guys or one where we get to know their culture more closely.
The Legend of Khiimori will let you do all that and then some. However, things I experienced during several opening hours of this early access build I tried aren't exactly promising, to put it mildly.
The Limitations of Early Access
It is really unfair to judge a game based on the early access build, but this version is all I had a chance to experience, so my judgment is based on it. From the very beginning, I've noticed two significant things that can be quite concerning: the lack of polish (will most definitely undergo major changes) and the lack of creativity in quests.
Of course, this early access version doesn't feature the full story; to be honest, it's more like no story at all because the full version of the game will bring the story mode along with it; in this version, you'll get several fetch quests here and there. However, even this early, the lack of creativity in quest design is very evident. All the quests I played in the game were pretty much go there, plan the route, craft something, and that's pretty much it. Will it be different once the full version is out? I sure as hell hope so; if things regarding quests and story stay at this level, it will be bad, to say the least.
The Abundance of Mechanics and Creative Gameplay
The gameplay part, on the other hand, promises a lot, and if this early access is any indication, fun could be guaranteed here. The Legend of Khiimori features a huge open world filled with all sorts of activities, flora and fauna, many biomes to explore, animals to hunt, and horses to breed and own. In short, The Legend of Khiimori will never let you get bored while playing it.
You'll play as Naraa, a young Mongolian equestrian who seeks to find her place under the Mongolian sky as a courier honouring the tradition and helping her tribe as best as she is able. In The Legend of Khiimori, your main companion will be your horse, on whose back you'll do almost everything: do the quests, gather materials for crafting, use a bow and arrow in a real Mongolian style, and many other things.
Managing your horse is one of the main in-game mechanics. By managing, I mean that you'll have to make sure your horse's stamina is always at an optimal level, that he is well fed and not thirsty, and that you don't ride him into thorns, rocks, or any other obstacles that might hurt him, and apart from making you heartbroken, a hurt horse also means slower progress.
The game will allow you to have more than one horse (this early access version will let you own four of them), and each horse breed will have its pros and cons, and you'll have to make sure to pick the right horse for the right job. The horses can be customised and upgraded in a real RPG style, and the game will allow you to unlock different skills for the horses and for Naraa as well.
Riding isn't a simple task. The game will let you choose between two different riding control schemes (a more traditional one and a more complicated one for a better experience). You'll control the horse with thumbsticks (using a controller), and you'll adjust the riding speed with the RB and LB buttons. More speed or galloping will drain stamina, so you'll have to keep that in mind while riding, too.
Once the stamina, hunger gauge, or thirst gauge is drained, the horse will lose health, and to regain it, you'll have to heal the horse. Also, you'll have to make sure that your horse stops regularly to eat grass, and once you come across a water source, you'll have to let the horse drink to stay healthy. All this might seem like too much, and trust me, it is too much, because you'll always have full hands just managing your horse.
There's also an interesting balance mechanic where you'll have to make sure your horse's cargo is equally placed on both sides because otherwise your horse might stumble and fall and hurt itself in the process. As I said in the subtitle, this might be the game of so many innovative, fun mechanics.
Away from the horse, you can fully control Naraa with the characteristic third-person camera. While controlling Naraa alone, you can use her significant bow, mostly for your protection against the wild fauna of the 13th-century Mongolian world.
Regarding gameplay, variety and quality are equally present in The Legend of Khiimori. Many of those mechanics are still on shaky legs, but I sincerely believe that the final version of the game will bring some very much-needed improvements, and everything will feel much better.
The Beauty of the Mongolian World With All Its Flaws
The Legend of Khiimori is an Unreal Engine 5 game, and that alone should speak volumes about its graphical prowess. But is The Legend of Khiimori a graphically stunning game? The answer is quite straightforward. No, it is not. It has its moments, for sure. The open world and the vistas you'll encounter all the time while playing can be quite impressive and even stunning at times; however, once the game decides to show itself up close, it reveals all its flaws.
The worst thing about visual presentation is, without doubt, very bad-looking face models. Once the conversation between the characters occurs, you'll see what I'm talking about. Apart from very poorly designed face models, voice acting lacks that professional touch as well and sounds rather stiff and forced without that characteristic flow seen in other titles with more quality.
As I said before, an open world with all its biomes can be quite stunning, but only when it's observed from afar. When observed from up close, everything looks quite dated and underdeveloped. Colours are also somehow washed out, especially during rain segments.
The game on my PC performed quite well, with several graphical glitches and FPS drops here and there. In normal circumstances, FPS was way above average (80+), but in some instances, and I must add not inside graphically demanding sections, it would drop even below 30.
Sounds, especially the soundtrack, on the other hand, are quite amazing. Of course, I must exclude very basic voice acting (English or Mongolian), but apart from that, The Legend of Khiimori is beautiful to listen to, with traditional Mongolian music playing in the background, which perfectly fits the atmosphere of the game.
Final Verdict
In its current early access state, The Legend of Khiimori feels like a project torn between bold ambition and uneven execution. Its setting, cultural focus, and mechanical depth, especially around horse management, are genuinely refreshing and unlike almost anything else on the market. There is clear passion behind the idea, and when the systems click, the game hints at something truly special waiting to emerge.
That said, weak quest design, technical instability, and a noticeable lack of polish hold it back significantly for now. If the developers manage to meaningfully expand the narrative, refine the mechanics, and improve presentation and performance, The Legend of Khiimori could grow into a standout experience. Until then, it remains a fascinating but fragile early access title, one full of promise but still very much a work in progress.
