Windstorm: The Legend of Khiimori promises an immersive open-world horseback adventure

Developer Aesir Interactive and publisher Mindscape Games have just lifted the lid on Windstorm: The Legend of Khiimori, an open-world adventure that puts players on the back of a legendary horse.

Set in 13th century Mongolia, Windstorm: The Legend of Khiimori will cast players as a young courier, riding on horseback to deliver messages and goods around the vast world. You’ll need to plan routes across harsh terrain, learn the ways of the wilderness and complete missions for various characters you come across.

Looking after your horses, breeding them and taming new ones is a big part of your time with The Legend of Khiimori, too. You’ll be in charge of taking care of them and making sure they have everything they need to thrive.

This isn’t the first Windstorm game, with Aesir Interactive having developed Windstorm: An Unexpected Arrival in 2019 and Windstorm: Start of a Great Friendship in 2017. Based on a series of movies and books, both of those games are set in the modern day and are much smaller in scope. Windstorm: The Legend of Khiimori, on the other hand, aims to be bigger than its predecessors in multiple ways.

Aesir Interactive’s CEO, Wolfgang Emmer, says, “The Windstorm series has connected with so many people over the years, and we’re looking forward to entering a new generation in the franchise. Our team has been hard at work refining and innovating gameplay to deliver the most realistic horse gameplay experience, approved by experts. We’re eager for players to experience the legendary bond between horse and rider, whether they are a longtime fan or discovering the adventures of Windstorm for the very first time.”

We’ve got to admit, the idea of making our way around a tranquil world on horseback sounds rather appealing. No combat; simply you, your horse and the wilderness. We expect it to be similar to Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch, another game developed by Aesir, which allowed us to explore an open world on horseback. It didn’t quite hit the mark for us, unfortunately, with our review complaining of clunky controls and laborious navigation. With a few more years of development under its belt, however, we can hope that The Legend of Khiimori is a little more polished.

So: if open-world horse adventures sound like your thing, you won’t have to wait very long to try it out: Windstorm: The Legend of Khiimori is coming to Steam Early Access in September. However, Aesir is keen to stress that it will be at a “very early stage in development”, with much more work to be done over the course of early access. We’re not sure yet how long it will remain in early access, but a developmental road map will be released in the coming months.