HORSE TALES: Wasted potential, broken, tedious

[@YTRattle]

I forgot to change the time stamp! It's 42:35 Also, so be clear about this review, I should have clarified that it's not impossible that they might add content at some point, but this IS a completed game, and they are in no way obligated to add more to it. So for now, this is as good as it gets. If there are any mistakes in my review, please let me know, I am always willing to listen! And finally, there is a lot of potential in this game, this was a misfire, but maybe there is a good groundwork for something better in the future.

[@Dr.RatioSnail]

WINDOWS ERROR ❤️

[@Dr.RatioSnail]

I LOST IT AT THE DARKSOULS MUSIC

[@YTRattle]

@@Dr.RatioSnail LOLLLL!!! Could not resist that Dark Souls reference! Thanks for checking it out Stellarlight! ♥♥

[@cameoshadowness7757]

I think Sonic Riders has a false start like thing and it shocks the player if they run to the line too fast BUT you don't have to restart the whole race each time and you can still win a race despite the shock setting you back a bit. Also if you time it right to avoid the false start like thing, you can actually get a boost. If this turns out to not be considered a false start and falls under a different name, sorry in advance. This was just the first thing that popped into my head when you mentioned it.

[@grumple9618]

Omg just found your chanel and already love it. I love your humour, laughted really often looking this video

[@Constellasaur]

This really begs the question of what is with horse games and their developers being unable to take any criticism

[@YTRattle]

I really wish I had the answer to this, it's like they're allergic to criticism sometimes!

[@b.3277]

Exactly. Alice can dish out criticism on TMQ endlessly, it can be pretty rude and snotty too. But she cant take it...okay.

[@angustheterrible3149]

@@b.3277 this is why I always take her opinion with a grain of salt. She's a self proclaimed expert, but I always found her expertise to be pretty lacking and based solely on personal rancor.

[@PhoenixRoseYT]

If you grew up with horses, you’re probably pretty well off so…they’ve probably never experienced criticism or hardship.

[@jamiemaclean7636]

​@@PhoenixRoseYTgrowing up with horses doesn't equate wealth though I know many more horse people that didn't grow up wealthy than I know people that did 🤷‍♀️

[@Karin029_]

I can't get over how the player character runs like they're holding in the biggest crap of their life

[@YTRattle]

LOLLOL!!!

[@shelbywatson1752]

I laughed too hard at this. That's the first thing you play with at the beginning. I was like WHAT IS THIS. WHO THINKS PEOPLE RUN LIKE THIS

[@MiaTheGamer]

I didn't realize it was THIS bugged :/ It's so sad because a lot of us expected a lot of fun out of this game. Hopefully they can fix this with playerfeedback! I can't run it for longer than 30 minutes on my computer o_o but for those who can play it for a long time, I hope the future of this game is a lot brighter than it is right now!

[@YTRattle]

Hey Siren! Exactly this! The game had potential, but it was absolutely wasted. Why? We can only speculate, but let's hope they can at least patch it up to a decent state!

[@heidi234]

Fun experience I had. Bred my horse at one of the breeding locations and it let me breed the horse I was riding. so I was horseless and didnt know about the return to estate function. So I ran all the way back on foot. took like 15 minutes.

[@YTRattle]

Oh mofo, THAT is painful! And makes so much sense! At this rate I'm going to have to do a part two XD LOL

[@Im_Iconic-Youre_Ironic]

@@YTRattle PLEASE DO!! I'M BEGGING YOU!!

[@kiyokumabear]

Assuming I would have to do the same, this is the exact reason why I haven't bred my horse yet. Maybe later when I have more, LOL.

[@Epona5]

now I'm wondering if they should have made a post-apocalyptic horse game where you have to collect materials to survive. it's just you, some scant npcs and your Horse Army. Could be fun haha

[@YTRattle]

I'd play the SHIT out of that!!!

[@snowbell8040]

That would be fun!!

[@MelloriNoMori]

I would pay my entire savings for that.

[@hahaannare]

Fallout horse version haha that would be absolutely awesome and a fun spin on horse games!

[@meicringei157]

I mean, Red Dead Redemption 1 Undead Nightmares is kind of like that. Missions whilst riding a horse of the apocalypse whilst being chased by a crap tonne of zombies. Terrifyingly fun!

[@bucvik9530]

To be honest, i would have loved this game, if they would have sold it as a beta, not as a finished product. Hope they fix these things and add more story and graphics. Defently not worth the price when you look at some areas, but so much potential

[@YTRattle]

Early Access would have been more than fine! And then just work on the game for a year or so!

[@f1lthyfangs]

I would pay actual money for a game developer to pair up with Rattle to create a good horse game. I feel like you speak about all the issues that all of us have with horse games and make really, really, REALLY valid points and have a GREAT eye for detail. It's not that you just say "this game is bad because i didn't enjoy it", no, you actually back up your opinion with facts and evidence. Truly the best equestrian game youtuber of our time. also, thank god i didn't purchase this dumpster fire lol

[@YTRattle]

Thank you! ♥ I'd love to work on a horse game someday! But I really don't envy people the job of developing games, it's a hard job, the problem I think with Horse Tales is they just wanted to add too much for the budget/team they had.

[@RimFaxxe]

@@YTRattle you down to join me during Christmas break? I've been stuck on concept art due to studies but I'm free after next Wednesday

[@f1lthyfangs]

@@YTRattle Oh I know, I used to be a game developer myself haha, it's a ton of work! I'd love to have you as an ambassador of popular horse games though. A true and honest one that we all need!

[@MisseryMoth]

the sad thing is the modeler who did the horses and animated them is very passionate about horses, and how bad modern horse games are so im just like flabbergasted that this is so bad and that the developers cant see the potential MONEY if they put in effort lol.

[@RimFaxxe]

@@MisseryMoth that's why I'm making my own game

[@skybluepainter]

I feel so sorry for the animators to have done such an amazing job only to have thier art shat on by higher ups who don't know how to make a basic game.

[@YTRattle]

Oh damn, yeah, that's actually really sad to think about :(

[@curnies]

I know nothing about this game but watching the opening to the video I thought the same - what a shame. The art is stunning.

[@Karin029_]

Straight away, the trailer sounded like it was saying everything a player wants to hear. It sounded so perfect to the dot. It made me suspicious and cautious about my expectations.

[@Whattheheckgives]

As a former game hub mod, Alice deleting that bug thread over the assets being brought to light has almost totally killed my interest in Horse Tales. You don't ever silence someone who's been helping the developers and the community members, it's like shooting yourself in the face. As a potential customer that one action's not only made me leery of buying anything else Aesir releases, it's also made sure if a horse game's recommended by TMQ I'll probably steer clear until it's bundled or steeply reduced.

[@KawaiiBabyTragon]

Yyyyyyep, this looks exactly like what I would expect from a "criticism is bullying! :(" developer group project.

[@puckchang8691]

Can I just say that I really appreciate the horse animation breakdown. I mean, yes I make comics not animations, stuff like this can still be really useful for the next time I have to draw a (or a creature that is similar to one)

[@YTRattle]

YAY! I love horse animations! I've wanted to make a whole video about it! ♥ Glad you enjoyed it :D

[@Shiba_Draws]

​@@YTRattlehonestly? As someone who wants to learn how to animate, it would definitely be helpful!!!

[@KakiT1]

Developers just have 0 respect for horse fans, only contempt. It feels like they would prefer to not even get our money but someone is forcing them to do it

[@YTRattle]

"You shall make a horse game!" "I don't wanna!" "We have your family!" "Fine, I'll do it! (Mutters: but the piece of shit won't make any money!)"

[@Sassafrass95]

@@YTRattle it would if they at least TRIED to give us games that weren't boring to play after about an hour or two, broken beyond repair, both, or just an obvious cash grab to fund other games

[@RoseWilder]

Just want to say that I recently discovered you, and you've become one of my favorite people on this platform. I love how you take these games seriously, especially since there is some stigma towards horse games. I'm from Norway, and I work in the video gam industry. Astride is from a company further south from where I live, and BOY were the guys here making fun of that game. it's alway, it's not taken seriously and expected to flop because it's a 'girl game'. My own team is making a parody football (soccer) game, and the team next to us is making an FPS of sort.

[@YTRattle]

Horse Games suffer the absolute worst stigma, and it's a shame, as horse gamers are looking for good games too, but because no one takes it seriously, we always get stuck with bad games. It's sad, to be honest! I'm glad my channel means something to you! I love horse games and would absolutely LOVE to see them go into a more mainstream market. Maybe one day! And kudos to you for being in game development! I'm insanely jealous! :D

[@dovahnok0957]

I’ve never understood the stigma certain types of games get. As long as nothing morally wrong is being pushed, what’s the issue with wanting to ride and train digital horses for a few hours?

[@YTRattle]

@@dovahnok0957 Because many horse games, thanks to 'games with horses' have higher standards today, and we're pushing for these games not to be 'okay' but to be 'great'. A game can be boring or mundane, and you can certainly enjoy it! But that should not be the standard for a genre.

[@RoseWilder]

​@@dovahnok0957 It's for the same reason cooking game (unless highly competitive), and sim games are often looked down on. They are catering to 'women', and are thus 'lesser'. Again, it's dumb, especially dumb of those IN the industry. There is a GIGANTIC gap in certain game categories, like horse games and games similar to The Sims, but these guys don't see it, instead let's make a football game or a fps arena shooter, because those haven't been done to death.

[@wormdoodles]

​@@RoseWilder don't forget open-world, fantasy action-adventure! because we haven't had enough of those yet ;). i remember arguing with some guy who claimed that nintendo doesn't need to bring back nintendogs, because there was nothing "new" they could do with the ip. who cares if they do something new? that was legit one of the only really quality pet simulators on the market and no other studio with the budget of nintendo seems interested in making one currently. and then you have games like style savvy, where there's no real replacement (i wasn't too enamoured with the nikki games, they just didn't scratch the same itch and are too micro-transaction-y, anyway) but because those games target women and girls (you know, ~50% of the market), i guess they're too niche to continue making...

[@Jillaroe]

To say I've been eagerly anticipating your video on this dumpster fire Rattle, would be an understatement.

[@YTRattle]

Woot! :D

[@warriorgirl1220]

I can confirm that the bug that stresses out horses when they jump was a huge problem. Especially since it was triggered by the house having been pet! So if your horse got stressed for some other reason and you got off and pet them, the horse would be bugged and would become stressed after jumping. It was incredibly frustrating and absolutely wrecked the sneaky way race since there’s that long jump near the end of the laps. The only way I was able to pass was to tame a new horse, avoid anything that might stress it as I rode up to the race, and to never pet it. It was the only way to make it through. Seriously, I wanted to love this game but the story alone is a dealbreaker. It felt like a demo, not a full complete story.

[@JazminFloral1020]

31:06 I am about halfway through this video and everything You’ve said so far has shocked me. I knew there were some problems, but there aren’t just a few problems. There must be a curse on all horse games. Also, the quests don’t exactly tell you what to do. I have a quest that says help Natalia at the race track and to talk to her but talking to her does nothing and I don’t know what help I am supposed to offer. And the fact that this game ends so quickly and there’s almost nothing to do after the story is over ruins the potential that this game had.

[@theConcernedWyvern]

A way they could've fixed like half of these problems is the same way Swords Magic n' Stuff did, where they release it as early access and only part of the map is playable. In SMnS it was mostly the starter town, tutorial island, some beaches and forest with a couple points of interest. This would allow for more time to create models, npcs, actually interesting terrain instead of a bunch of paths, as well as allow them to fill up the world bit by bit. Because it was early access, a blatant wall could be excused and later removed. It's such an easy fix. The game in its current state feels more like a proof of concept with shiny horse models and shades than an actual game this is more akin to the type of thing a developer would make to test if their idea is actually fun.

[@YTRattle]

GOD I wish they'd done this!!!

[@DaniellaMoonstar]

The pain and suffering I felt from trying this game so far has been neatly wrapped in this video💀I felt this game was off when the trailer for it came out and the videos I saw on this game has further proved my point on it being a pain🗿I do hope that this game improves, but considering how the devs were when handling this I highly doubt it. Love the video dude💗and that intro was the best thing I've ever seen💀

[@YTRattle]

Thanks Moon! I hope they fix it, there is potential, but I'm not holding my breath at this point. The 'fixed' save file is breaking again, so I have no idea what they're doing over there XD LOL

[@DaniellaMoonstar]

@@YTRattle oh god not again🗿

[@liesbeth5742]

I was pretty lucky to get through the game with minimal bugs. I actually liked the game, I thought the story was just starting.. then I realized.. that was the entire story. After that pretty much everything felt useless. Having to ride around for damn peppermints to breed, to get a horse that doesn't have any use anymore since there's no quests left. I feel like this game could've been great, but after finishing it within hours it feels like there's no use to playing it anymore since it's single player. You can win all races with devil of the valley so there's no point except for maybe collecting different coats.

[@YTRattle]

It's a pity really, as the game did feel like it had a lot of potential!

[@liesbeth5742]

@Rattle Yes, I agree!

[@explodo5987]

Awesome job as always Rattle! I always appreciate a second opinion when my dopamine chasing, horse loving brain sees a pretty horse game and immediately makes me think I need it in my life xD

[@YTRattle]

LOLLOL!! Oh saaaame! I have played some SHITTY games in my life just to get the chance to ride a horse XD And thank you Explodo! Those extra coffees saw me through! ♥♥

[@bqualitysnake6549]

It's here! Wohooo! (not the game, but your review of it) 30 minutes into my rushed purchase and playing the game I knew we'd see from you. Once again the wait was well worth it! Your intro first of all is a cinematic masterpiece, come to think of it it feels way more polished than any singular mechanic in the game. From feeding to grooming to washing to petting to training to breeding to crafting to building to collecting rare collectibles to finding out you get literally nothing from selling horses to learning which hidden entrance in which labyrinth lets you unlock the area you need to get access to, to figuring out if kiki really knows where the rare horses are, to reading more guides than i ever hads to in hi3 just to realize the only mentally healthy way to get enough peppermints or finish the sneaky ways race is through glitches, all while figuring out how to move the camera just right so you don't get TOO nauseus; Made for the perfect gameplay experience. My favorite part was doing the first of "photograph these animals" quest, knowing through conext clues of seeing more types of animals around the island that it'll be something you can do for a while and actually fullfill your completionist needs only to find out; it was just the one quest... -What was your favorite part? This game suffers from trying to be so many things it forgets what it wants to be, and subsequently what mechanics should be more or less in depth. For a game with a depth of story that an 8 year old might find engaging; racing sure is difficult, and for a game that claims to set a new standard for the genre there's really almost nothing to do during the main story, and no reason to do the things you unlocked after finishing it. Locking vital features to the last few quests of a sandbox game with questing is a dumb move, locking story progression behind timeconsuming, boring or hidden sandbox mechanics is even worse. Quick and simple this feels more unfinished than my (growing) collection of supposed difficult survival simulator games turned chatbox/sandbox online games because they stay stagnant in developement for up to 7 years (i'm not kidding). It feels like randomly collected elements and quests from mobile adventure games slapped together with rudimentary controls and called groundbreaking by a librarian once; only to have the quote plastered on every sign in town to make people buy it. Shaming other developers products and games in productions as well as raising player expectations by calling this an industry redefining game; along with a pretty hefty price point was the nail in the coffin for this game. I don't know what they were thinking, making this game out to be some shady game of the year before we get to see any real gameplay feels like buying snake oil. By now I'm convinced I'd be more happy buying snake oil than any new horse game on release day, or at least before a few people have reviewed it properly. -That said, as I actually survived playing through this, do you have any recommendations for new, or new-ish horse games I could try out while waiting for Rein Ravine and Astride to come out? Or any other upcoming horse games with potential I could keep my eyes on, or should I stick with the tried and true Rein Ravine demo and whatever crumbs of content sso feels like releasing while trying not to fall for their ? I trust your judgment a lot more than articles or sponsored playthroughs. ...And need my horse fix for the months ahead until I have 4 hooves of my own, and don't have to (fully) rely on pixels. Once again, love your takes and thorough reviewes, timelines and interviews, always eagerly waiting for your next post, Oh! and Happy Holidays

[@Hjartstilla]

Watching through the video and I'm at 52:49 rn, maybe someone else has already commented this but the best way to find out a horse's favourite food/s is comparing the costs of breedings with other horses. Trying different 'mare x stallion' combinations will help you find out what their favourite foods are without having to waste food through the trial-and-error way of feeding

[@YTRattle]

That's brilliant! Thank you! ♥ I can't believe I hadn't thought of that XD

[@Hjartstilla]

@@YTRattle Nw! ❤️

[@Mumble785]

I think the worst part is just that.. the devs being like "oh people are just salty cuz it wasn't what they expected" when the expectations were just.. a) a functional game and b) something that wouldn't tick off a bunch of boxes on The Mane Quest's "please stop doing this" lists.. considering that they were on the team. It's just a little odd to me that The Mane Quest takes so much pride in being the creative producer and supposedly having a big hand in the development (at least the conceptualization I'm guessing) stages of the game when it sounds like if they Hadn't been a developer for this game, it would probably have a critical article by them with a lot of the same points as this video both good And bad. Like,, hasn't TMQ complained about stuff like tedious not-engaging horse care before..? I completely understand taking pride in your work and don't fault them at all for that, but the game isn't perfect and the devs being passive aggressive about people being disappointed in the release (esp with that price tag) just leaves a weird taste in the mouth... idk just doesn't spark joy x_x

[@paolaanimator]

I'm not a game developer but I work on 3D animation in game engines and animation apps before, I have made 3D models from scratch, just starting to get into coding, etc. so I have some idea in how animation and games goes together. I've actually been considering challenging myself to model a specific horse to understand horse anatomy and how it runs/behaves, since I love animals. Honestly I have been finding your channel focusing on horse game development so interesting because you do such a great job explaining the game mechanics and especially how beautiful some of these horse games are, it's such a shame they tend to be buggy or there's an issue with game development. I just realized how there's not really any good horse games. Funny enough the "best" horse games I've played are Breath of the Wild and Red Dead Redemption, and horses are not even the main focus but it was so much fun riding the horses around and bonding with them. I notice how the game industry is putting more care into shooting games, fighting games, realistic games with a deep story (usually M rated), more open world games recently, etc. But it seems like horse games keeps getting disregarded so therefore not as much care like how shooting or fighting games tends to be well polished with deep gameplay and no bugs. Hopefully one day you guys will get a high quality horse game that's bug free and fun for everyone to enjoy. I've never played any of these horse games but I enjoy listening to your videos and the fun edits/jokes while I work on my animation. Keep up the great work! I want to add I loved your horse anatomy breakdown since I've been researching horse movements for 3D animation.

[@seeing8spots]

"Someone nake a fanfic of this tree" really killed me 😂😂 Wait, I had no idea the Mane wurst blog person was one of the creators of this game. That's really disappointing 😞 the game really had potential.. it needed a year or two more to really be fleshed out. They should have released this as early access or beta and then taken feedback to fix it for main game play in the future.

[@DBZgeek2000]

A friend gifted me Horse Tales and I got bored of it not long after I caught my first wild horse (about two hours in) - haven't gotten on it since. I'd rather put more hours into Genshin Impact (I've literally been playing it for two years) and hyperfixate on getting my characters stronger

[@rebeccaolsson22]

Very good summary rattle! My biggest annoyance is the world and i think it could be explained even further that it is not open !! except for the few fields and beaches, everything else is just "follow the path". In fact, 95% of the time you physically cannot stray from the path. There are no shortcuts, no fast travel, no running around freely. Elderwood, a huge section of the map is just a fishnet of paths that lead to nowhere. ugh Great work complining everything in a video! /becc00 ;)

[@sofiaalonso5713]

Actually, I don't understand why you don't have more subscribers, you did and excellent job analyzing this game as always, thanks for your time and effort.

[@cognizant3252]

34:44 "B-but game design is hard!" Yes. It's also a career you can CHOOSE to go into. My older sibling got their degree in game design and their team with NO BUDGET made all of their assets BY THEMSELVES and made an immersive 3D game with better graphics, a real open world, and better game mechanics. Albeit it was a platformer puzzle game and 30-40 minutes long for a school project but it was amazing.

[@YTRattle]

Setting a standard high from the get-go, I love it! :D

[@cognizant3252]

@@YTRattle They imparted some great wisdom on me since now I’m starting my own first ever video game, albeit on a much smaller scope and being made in RPGMaker with 2D graphics, but I think this is applicable to everyone. I asked if I could share what they told me, and they said go for it. They work for much larger companies now on bigger releases, so they do exist within the industry professionally still and have experience. So here’s what they had to say. 1. The Clown Rule. Look at your game and think, “could this be rethemed to be about clowns?” If the answer is yes, the game is flawed from a thematic standpoint. Your theme needs to work directly into the game’s core mechanics and the two should not be able to be separated. I guess in this case, Horse Tales passes this, but only because it’s a game about riding horses and caring for them, thus, it makes sense for all the mechanics to be tied to it so deeply. 2. Any mechanic besides the core fundamentals of the game should be an afterthought. Things like mini games, item systems, etc, should come second to figuring out the core gameplay loop and building that and making sure it works first. Then you can add in the other fun stuff. Which Horse Tales feels like it failed on - riding the horses is the main point of the game and it sure seems like a chore half the time, while there’s also a lot of mechanics like breeding and taming, when the core gameplay loop is barely functional and frustrating at best of times. 3. The most important rule. If you are making a video game, you need to set limits and remember the scope of your project, because it’s easy to lose sight and either release a game that feels unfinished because you set the bar too high in terms of what you wanted in the game and didn’t have time to implement all of it, or you will never release the game at all, because you got sidetracked. As much as bringing him up is beating a dead horse (lol) I think a good example is YanDev. His game is still virtually unfinished as far as I’m aware and he still keeps coming up with insane ideas of things to add in the game when it currently barely runs and is full of stock assets he “hasn’t replaced yet”. To some degree, Horse Tales feels like it failed on the last 2 points. As someone who codes, does sound design, and makes 3D and 2D assets, I can tell pretty much every portion of this game was rushed. My biggest guess is their time and resource management was divided too heavily. They should have been focusing on actually making the riding an enjoyable experience and making the game… well, playable, before they diverted ANY attention to breeding and petting, and it seems to me like at the current state of the game, those features shouldn’t have been even considered at this point. My analogy for game development is that it’s like a sandwich. Sure, you can spend all your time preparing the ingredients, and while those absolutely are amazing in adding on, a sandwich isn’t a sandwich until you have the bread. So what’s the point in prepping all those ingredients and arranging them really nicely if there’s no bread to sit upon? It’s not a sandwich, then. You can have really amazing side features but without the game actually working, it’s not a game.

[@jennynoelle6782]

I once made a color guide for Horse Reality, since I started playing when it was very new, and, though people were interested, no official color guide existed. I had a lot of fun making and maintaining it, but I haven't been on in a while, so I don't know it it's still on the forums, or if it has been superseded by a more up-to-date guide.

[@iimdone]

i wrote a LONG ass review about it on steam basically about how i wanna love it so much, but its extremely hard to given the amount of wasted potential and emptiness. i literally cannot believe they released a so clearly unfinished game that doesnt even seem ready to be in a beta stage tbh. there was NO reason for this to be rushed, there wasnt even a lot of demand for it. i also hate how they basically just ripped every horse mechanic off of botw, and basically made a game solely around that; even the art style and soundtrack. dont even get me started on the game breaking bug they had ON RELEASE and did NOT fix for way too long, which was your horse getting stressed EVERY single jump even if it didnt have any sort of trait related to jumping. i also cannot stand having to dismount everytime to pet your horse, its a good idea to have a little minigame for these actions, but they get incredibly repetitive and annoying to do. its also funny to me how the dev wanted the story to not be typical to other horse games, yet they followed the exact same storyline.

[@DaisyStalls]

Darn your videos are underrated! They are so entertaining yet obviously made with a lot of care and research. I always look forward to watching them and listening to your takes on stuff c:

[@KatastrophicNoodle]

The scream at 47:18 scared my cat lmao, poor baby girl thinks its a firework taking off xD

[@YTRattle]

LOL I Love that movie, it's weird AF, but endearing in a stupid kind of way XD And sorry about the cat! LOL

[@catmintdragon2215]

2:53 okay, i'm only a couple minutes into watching but I have not seen the LOTR game in so long, brings back so many memories

[@threatenthemoon]

6:30 Back when I played the game I couldn't even finish that race because there was a bug where the horses would get scared from JUMPING!, And there's enough jumps in the race that you physically could not finish it without the horse refusing to sprint because it was too scared!

[@YTRattle]

That mechanic drove me up the walls, I swear to GOD

[@threatenthemoon]

@@YTRattle I stopped playing after the first race and just haven't touched the game since because it's simply not worth it since I know there's gonna be harder races ahead and if I couldn't finish the easiest one what says I can finish the others?

[@threatenthemoon]

@@YTRattle not to mention the bald spots on the character creation, a big pet peeve of mine. Also constant reminders of active traits.

[@zaraxiv8429]

Amazing review! I was so excited for this game to come out only to be dissapointed....It is no longer in my steam library. I think us players just want a great horse game that we can enjoy and also have a developer that will LISTEN to us. I am keeping my fingers crossed for Astride!

[@ellzbellz3734]

I was very excited about the fact that you made a video on this, while I was playing this game I wondered if you would. This video was incredible as always, I am a history student and love to write essays. From my perspective and insight, you always script your videos so well. I know how much talent and time they take, I look forward to each of your videos.

[@Gibbon420]

I'm not really a horse person and I've never played a horse game in my life but I could listen to this person talk about horses all day. I wish my cat had your voice.

[@Gibbon420]

Edit: turns out I am a horse person

[@KSJen]

Thank you Rattle for making this video, I've seen videos where they sugarcoat the game and I was so close to get it myself but .. after watching this im glad I had the patience not too. I might if they actually sprinkle some love into gameplay and fixes their issues. Or take my thumb out my bum and learn how to make a game myself.

[@kaypreston819]

Wow it’s worse than I ever imagined. I gave up with the game, it made me horrendously motion sick, can’t even get past the race against lily so it’s nice to see it doesn’t get any better after that 😂 love your videos! Someone who says it as it is!

[@YTRattle]

Thank you Kay! That Lilli race nearly broke me XD LOL

[@kaypreston819]

@@YTRattle it’s way too hard, the camera, the controls. Nope. I nearly lost my lunch 🤢

[@ItsHaisho]

With all the mixed reviews I've seen for this game, I decided I would still give it a try, but wait until it was on sale to do so. I'm glad I did. It is NOT worth the $30 that is charged for it at full price

[@aurered6387]

When u opened Horse genetic chart that silence and at the end u said plz help xD was best made me smile 1:06:37

[@YTRattle]

I am not a geneticist, geezus XD LOL But I understand people who enjoy these types of things get a big kick out of it, I just wish they'd been a bit more clear in the game :\

[@aurered6387]

​@@YTRattle Yeah xD Myself still get confused well after all i learned most genetic stuff from website horse games like HorseWorldOnline has great one and Horse Reality and from similar others ;) sad that none speak about these type games there is some really well made

[@flufflewarrior]

I never wanted to play this game. Something about the pastel-coloring and models in general just didn't appeal right to. *But* I just love your videos so I'm really happy to see an hour long analysis 😍

[@YTRattle]

I hope you enjoyed it :D! There were some hiccups, but I had a lot of fun making it, and I STILL had a lot to cover XD

[@flufflewarrior]

@@YTRattle I'm currently watching it and I am more then entertained! ^-^ Thanks for the heart and answer :D

[@layla.022]

Awesome video, Rattle! ✨️ You always put so much effort into these long analysis videos and it definitely shows because they're great, well thought out and very entertaining to watch

[@sprigtwig]

I have to say, I really enjoy your analytical approach to these games, along with the added bits of humor ! Your videos are always very informative and interesting to watch, providing both good criticism, as well as interesting pieces of knowledge. Sincerely, thank you for making this content, and tackling some of the more uncommon topics and games. I always find myself looking forward to watching your uploads, and I really appreciate your honesty ! 💛

[@YTRattle]

Thank you so much, Twig! I love making these vids, so it's an absolute win-win ^^ But thank you! Your comments means a lot to me! ♥♥

[@sprigtwig]

@@YTRattle That’s great to hear ! ^^ And of course, thank you too ! 💛

[@DragonologyStudent]

Great job on this fair and in depth review. It is quite unfortunate it turned out the way it did. I did still enjoy it, and it looked like they at least really wanted to make something good, and I assumed it was likely a small team that got very ambitious. Although with resources I would like to see a picture next to the name of the resource so I would have an idea what I should be looking for, and a shop would be sooo nice.

[@kojikakoifish2862]

I'm so glad I didn't end up buying this when I planned to its not even funny. I was specifically waiting for someone to do a video like this, and I'm surprised it took this long to come out. You saved me some money. I've been playing horse games longer than most people playing them now have probably been alive, it's really sad that they haven't improved much as a genre overall. I had hoped this one might be something new.

[@YTRattle]

Glad the vid helped! It's sad that horse games are in such a state. They have the potential to be something amazing, and yet every time a horse game comes out, it's a mess.

[@pumkinpatchwork]

regardless of whether a studio is AAA or indie, I think 3 years is still wayyyy too little time to make an open-world game, especially one of this size. in fact, I would say especially _because_ it's a small indie team and not hundreds of developers working on it at once, 3 years is hardly any time for a game of this scope at all-- and from everything you've shown, from the reused assets to empty unfinished world to the numerous bugs, it's obvious that the studio was extremely rushed. they really bit off way more than they could chew here, had they pushed back the release date so their devs could actually take time to work or even just called their "official" release a beta or early access and continued fixing it as they went this game wouldn't have been so much of a mess. a damn shame because in almost all of these situations it's the higher ups or heads of the team demanding they must release on x date, and not the decision of the actual people making the game.

[@WobblesandBean]

As a zoologist who does understand alleles, phenotypes, and genotypes like the back of my hand, and does Punnett squares for fun, even MY head hurts by the end of the breeding section 😂

[@hypotheoretic3050]

I have waited for the day you released a video about Horse Tales and I'm so not disappointed! This game worried me when I first saw the advertisements to it ages ago... and it DIDN'T change, only the eyes changed... needless to say thank you for critiquing this game as I've had the same exact critiquing points about this game. Job well done Rattle 💕

[@YTRattle]

Ahhh! Thanks! :D ♥

[@MissMiseryGloom]

I love when you bring in horse anatomy and correct riding when criticizing the design. It's one of the things that makes your channel so unique and interesting!😊💜

[@bitapetrone1220]

Like a sweet summer child, I bought this game on release day from Steam. After two cursed save files and 40 hours I'm mad. If this had been some no-name game out of some gutter I wouldn't be nearly as miffed. If it had only cost me 5-10$ I'd be way less annoyed, because that is an entry price for an amateur game. If this was an early-access game with improvements/fixes coming I wouldn't be mad at all. However, it was full-price AND worked on by someone who critiques horse games on a rather prominent blog within the community. I don't always agree with the statements made on the blog, but it's never felt disingenuous to me before. I was willing to overlook the very obvious conflict of interest which was a huge mistake. Of course we expected more. We read the blog! Any expectations us non-zealots had was put in place by people working on the game! What is this? How is this my fault as a player? Also just a quick comment on the genetics. This game is neither revolutionary nor does it bring anything new to the table. That's all and that is fine. I've been playing Horse Isle 3 for years and it blasts Emerald Valley in the genetics department. It's pleasant and realistic in Emerald Valley, but it's very constrained and if you already know how genetics work, there isn't much to get done. It doesn't help that every horse with two copies of cream blinds me like an operating-table light (I did all my breeding based off phenotype because I could never get the DNA testing to work on my saves. I understand this is fixed now?). I went to the discord for the blog hoping to find discussion on the game since I was having such a bad time. Instead I found circled wagons and giant puffs of copium smoke. I don't know what I expected, but discussing the negatives of the game was difficult without some people taking it personal. A conversation in there this very morning spurred me to write this comment, as a discussion of the game being broken had to be shut down by a mod. Apparently a broken game is a matter of opinion even though we can objectively list the ways it was, indeed, broken. I really do not like this sort of thing and it does not inspire faith. The most frustrating thing about all of this is that if the people who worked on it just OWNED that it was a hot mess and OWNED that it needed more it would do so much to alleviate this agitation (for me at least). Most of my angst comes from them just not even being willing to acknowledge the fail. Fails happen and I sure don't expect perfection... But own it. Especially since this was supposed to be "bringing horse games to the next level" as directly taken from the blog. But yeah, my bad for expecting more than what we got.

[@horsetailhollow]

I was wondering which horse game it is at 51:05. It looks like Spirit Lucky's Big Adventure, but I'm not sure. Thank you for the video. I'm also very disappointed about Horse Tales, and it's not very accessible to players with a physical disability.

[@AbigailPinehaven]

Shame really. Ah well, onto the next thing!

[@YTRattle]

It IS a shame! But I understand Aesir is bringing out a new Ostwind game, I hope this game gave them a good blueprint to work off of 👀

[@lunar_proxy]

a true "well, we appreciate the effort, but..." moment

[@DreamingInColor_x]

I've ran into a few bugs but oh my gosh I didn't realise that it was THIS bad when it comes to glitches.😵‍💫 I really hope that it gets better because it has great potential! They just need to iron out a few... Err... A lot of things. Also... YOU CAN JUMP ON TOP OF THE STUPID MAZE?! 😱 I spent WAY too long trying to navigate the damn thing omg🤦‍♀️

[@YTRattle]

LOLLOL!! I know!! God I wish I'd known this at the beginning!! XD

[@jenniedraws406]

For me I was playing the game on the switch. I finished completing the quests and was breeding horses. I had produced an awesome horse, but the game crashed and the "auto save" stopped working and lost so much resources and more importantly time. It's sad cuz this game has so much potential. I hope they fix these problems.

[@YTRattle]

Ouch! That had to hurt! Sorry about that! ♥ I hope they get around to fixing these problems at some point, as you said, the game has a lot of potential!

[@frootloopssz]

i decided to have faith in this game despite your review, and to try it out myself. oh how absolutely dumb i was to think i could withstand more than an hour of this game this isnt horse tales: emerald valley ranch this is pain tales: needs improvement ranch : ) so much potential yet little of it was used.

[@MintyIllusion]

Fantastic analysis as always. What struck me as particularly troubling was the fans' defense that "It's normal for games to launch with bugs." Whether they really believe that or not, it says something about the state of the industry that there are enough games launching unfinished, or at least enough that are widely spoken about, that such a statement has any footing.

[@Sheevlord]

The devs said that the reason people are upset is because they expected something else? True. People expected a good game. The excuse that all games are buggy at launch isn't a valid one. First of all, there still are games that are well polished and tested even at day 1. Just because it has become an industry trend to release half baked games doesn't mean it's a good excuse. Yes, occasional glitches and bugs that show themselves under very specific conditions that would be very hard to spot during testing are excusable. However, when you can stumble upon a myriad of glitches by simply playing normally without doing anything weird - that's a sign that the game was released in an unfinished state.

[@scarletravenarts4485]

41:53 THATS WHAT IT IS! I could not figure out why red dead’s gallop looked so goofy 😭 thank you for enlightening me🙏

[@nobuns4sale]

I played this game AS SOON AS IT CAME OUT. I was in love with the trailer and it’s graphic designs as it was very new and fitting for a Nintendo Game. So, like all impatient horse players; I played it, only to be disappointed by it. Number one, the discontinuation of THE STORYLINE. It took me 3-4 hours (maybe even a day), to complete this entirety of a horse game WHICH IS CONCERNING because it is advertised as an open world game. Meaning that there should be at least enough quests for players like me to NOT GET BORED OFF OF and still maintain a good hourly play through. Number two. The bugs, oh goodness me. The game would NEVER save my progress after I finished the entire game; even as I made additional changes and improvements to my ranch, it just leaves my progress from when I last logged out. And if I load into my ranch, all of my buildings disappear so I have to restart the game; only to find out that the things I had spent on for hours wasn’t there at all. Number 3. Game functionality. The game kept lagging on my Nintendo OLED Switch; which SHOULD NOT HAPPEN as my game is designed to have a high performance when it comes to graphical qualities. The more it lagged, the more the app kicked me out and I couldn’t play it nor finish the ranch I still have yet to add on to. I absolutely despised sprinting on my extremely fast horse, only for the screen to lag and crash during a race, especially that forest race. Number four. Barely any additional game content, or development. Yes, they advertised new horses which was set behind a paywall however there was NO MORE QUESTS left at all. I had to restart the ENTIRE GAME TWICE to make sure I did not miss anything. But yes, nothing else was added. So overtime I grew bored and was left unsatisfied. In conclusion, I am still disappointed because it had a lot of potential however it felt halfway completed. It felt as if the game was limited when it shouldn’t be like that. I felt like the story went by too quickly as I was beginning to enjoy it; in which just made me stopped playing. So in the end, this game is just unfinished, buggy, barely playable, and overall disappointing.

[@ilsejongsma1513]

I love your videos so much! I always get exited when you post a new one.

[@YTRattle]

Ah man! Thank you :D Hoped you enjoyed it! ♥

[@SandShadow1904]

presaving to watch later love your content rattle! ^^

[@YTRattle]

Thank you! I hope you enjoy it ^^ ♥

[@gryphonkin7873]

Seeing all this potential wasted really made me sad. I had so much fun with this game. I bought it at release and played all quests in under a week. It was incredibly fun, but felt unfinished, like they realized they only had a week of production left and just wrapped it up somehow. I sat there, expecting more content to come but none ever did. I still love doing the races, I still love running around and just exploring. But this game could have been so much more.

[@petty_spagh3tti84]

I almost asked for this game for my birthday, thank God I looked into it. Thank you for the video!

[@petra9373]

I really enjoy all of your videos and the hard work, effort and also stress you put into making many people's day. I personally love hearing you rant about games and would love to see more of these long types of videos in the future.

[@meganmouradian6252]

So they posted an update on the Horse Tales Steam page regarding more content. They listed some ideas the community has talked about (horse breeds, new NPC’s, more story etc.) and interestingly said ‘we love to see your enthusiasm for this and completely agree that there’s a lot of potential in this genre.’ They also said there weren’t any plans for new content or any big expansion. But get this. ‘Both Aesir Interactive and publisher Microids are eagerly listening to your feedback and requests and taking notes for the future.’ So maybe they’ll do a spinoff? Or a completely new horse game.

[@YTRattle]

That's interesting! I hope they do make a new game at some point! :D

[@plasticbottle4270]

I feel like the main issue with horse games is that they are horse games, and not games. It all comes down to them trying so hard to make the game be all about horses that the rest of the main features get lost, and the horse part gets broken down to annoying tasks or to just gambling with genetics. You can absolutely make a game with a good riding system, but it still has to have a focus and other features it can stand on. If someone were to take the horse riding system of Red Dead 2 and place it in another game that is more marketable for all audiences, and it also has its standalone features that are fun, you coud get an actually enjoyable horse game. Maybe if you were to place the horses part in an exploration game, maybe one where you are exploring and solving puzzles in an open world with horses instead of being the focus being reduced to your main way of transport, you coud get a fun game where horses are an important feature, but also don't ruin the game by having a bunch of boring tasks tied to them. This coud just be my opinion, I guess my main background in gaming is all the more violent games, so maybe Im just not the audience for these games, but as someone who studies game design I would like to hear other's inputs on the mater. TLDR: Horses shoudn't be the main feature of the game, beacuse that seems to make all these horse games fail.

[@minnagoldhope]

I really love your videos, Rattle!^^ They are always so detailed and well explaind. I like how you show us these games from a different perspective. I really appraciate the work you put into these! I'm actually sad for this game because it could have been cute and interesting but nah, of course not! Also, as a huge fan I love the TLOTR references! I mean they are so true and fit perfectly!:D Thank you for taking your time to make these interesting videos! You are really important in this community!:) (Also, sorry if my english is not the best it's almost 3 AM lol)

[@YTRattle]

Oh wow, thank you Minna! This is so nice! ♥ And I LOVE Lord of the Rings :D!

[@minnagoldhope]

@@YTRattle Oh, of course anytime!;) I hoped so!:D

[@kropotkinnie]

As one of the first negative reviewers of this game on the horse games subreddit who kind of sparked a big comment section of others agreeing, happy to finally have a video voicing much of this. People really get caught up in how buggy this game is and don't realize how empty it is otherwise. If anything the bugs are saving people from discovering how empty and void of fun the game actually is. The only reason, I believe, that the map is as mazelike and ridiculously confining as it is (truly hell to ride around, not fun) is to slow players down so they can't do every single quest within the literal thirty at most minutes it'd take without a maze map (with an equally infuriating ACTUAL maze that sucks to ride your horse on!) Look, I love the graphics and the concepts, but the game is so bad, even ignoring the bugs. I keep trying to tempt myself to play more of it, but there's nothing to do at all. Also, the devs really rubbed me the wrong way. The response to my post and the comments under it was not to take any criticism into account, but to bafflingly start begging all of us players to give the game five star reviews on steam to combat the negative ones. The team explained that they wanted to be able to improve but needed our support, but stop for a moment and consider what they actually meant. They meant for all of us who actually were disliking the game or trying to voice opinions to quite literally lie to all other potential buyers, so that other people who weren't on the reddit or in the know would be suckered into buying the game. Seriously. You can go find the dev posts of all this stuff, especially on reddit. They spent a good week trying desperately to get us to give false positive reviews regardless of how we really felt, because they "needed our help". That might be what peeved me most about this whole thing. Making an unfortunately bad game is one thing, but being not only willing but intending to scam people into buying it is just f'd up. You'll see a lot of us on the steam reviews saying things like "I was told to write a good review" or "Sorry, I can't morally give this a good review even though I want to and love you guys" on one star ratings, because people were literally being guilted by the developers to scam other buyers into thinking the game was good and finished. Basically, super sad unfortunate game, but oh man, my trust in the devs is ENTIRELY not there. They've proven with the reviews that they're willing to genuinely scam customers and view negative reviews of their bad game as nothing more than a profit loss. Please don't buy this game out of support for the devs right now. They need to do some major redeeming before that can happen. Currently, you'd just be supporting what is effectively panning out as an attempted scam. Edit: I dropped off early on and had no idea about the assets or thread deletion. Holy shit this is BAD. These devs suck, let's not sugar coat it, oh my. Does this violate any scamming or marketing laws? Is there any case against the company for this stuff?

[@xOutdated]

I have like 15 min left of the video but; to win the race your horse has to be spotless clean (just run through that lake that's near it) and then pet it fully so its 100% satisfied, only then you can win the race. If you miss a jump your horse will get dirtier again and therefore not able to finish the race.. hope this helps

[@RebeccaRavenbird]

Can we PLEASE 🙏 get a game/movie where we don't have to fix up the dang ranch?? I'm sick of the trope. All the npcs rely on me and only me to save the world? Nuh uh, I'm done. Too much weight on my shoulders.

[@Shiba_Draws]

For real!!! Like,, in older games its understandable (pippa funnel) because they're,well, old (😂) but with newer games there must be more options..

[@catbatrat1760]

21:38 Oh! I have similar issues with the red horses!

[@lasshysteria]

51:03 Tbh I really love the interactive mini games, it makes it feel real. I feel like a good compromise would be for it to be an optional thing in the settings, where you can tick a box if you want it to be interactive or automatic sso style

[@zuwu1279]

Now im really curious about what games ARE GOOD in the equestrian fandom. I need recomendations :0

[@tschaytschay4555]

RDR2 😅

[@DragonologyStudent]

There is Alicia Online. Probably the only good horse game out there right now. And it's free

[@superlativesultan6165]

Also, in the forest, there's a huge metal gate that looks like it could have lead to another area. You're totally right, this is such a shame.

[@lexinicole4317]

Played this entire game’s story, bred horses, upgraded my estate… had no idea you could whistle for a horse. Had to awkwardly, buggily change my horse at my estate’s breeding barn when I lost it. Lmao.

[@sandpitturtle3577]

Wow, I guess that's one game I can take off of my wishlist as it seems right now

[@nerdatello]

kind of glad i waited until you made a video on this one; i'd seen this game around but after getting hooked on your SS content (i haven't even played it in YEARS), i decided to wait until you gave your verdict since you're my Go-To Horse Game Creator! hopefully they fix the game 😞 i'd love to dive into horse games again after so long but man.. i dunno if i could handle playing this game *and* pokemon violet at the same time LMAO

[@YTRattle]

I've heard about Pokémon Violet 👀 It's a mess! It's really sad! And it's sad about Horse Tales as well, the game has potential, maybe in a few months it will be better, i do hope so! And I'm so glad you're enjoying my videos! Thank you!!!

[@gasmeros]

love this analysis, honestly loving your channel as whole so far! it's so disappointing that this game is so unfinished. i gotta say, the section about horse anatomy and animations was so fascinating, i love it! im so interested by animations and translating real world anatomy and movement into a video game, so this bit was great! one note, i thought that "asset" was just a word for any in-game object, but you seem to use the term for what i would have called "store-bought" assets. maybe im wrong? it had me pretty confused for the first minute or so of the assets section though xD

[@MAWbomb]

babe wake up, another rattle review is out

[@YTRattle]

😂♥

[@InsectifiedBeing]

An hour of Rattle? Uh, absolutely!

[@Blackbalconty]

I'm so glad this video was suggested to me, Rattle is hilarious, right up my alley

[@LadyRangerGamer]

Ah I'm so glad you did a video on this, I have played about an hour of it and can't get any further thanks to a bug... Very annoying! It had SO MUCH potential!!!

[@dr.archaeopteryx5512]

Red Dead Redemption getting the horse walk animation wrong and me somehow never hearing about it until now, despite it being the "mudprints and horse balls realism" game, does wonders for my worries about making imperfect art

[@wanshang4901]

Hey, Rattle. I've been enjoying your content for a while, always having your videos open in the background while I go about my bisuness. My side work projects often include dealing with horses one way or another, so it's been a pleasure to listen to you. And after the segment covering the Shadow of the Collosus, I came to a sudden realisation that you may be the closest to horse animations expert I know of. See, some of my side projects are animation works. I usually work with already existing games and models, like Skyrim. I've been attempting to fix Skyrim horse riding animations, but most of my solution included making the horses slimmer, which isn't to my liking, since I like chonky boys and think it's fitting for Skyrim horses to be generally bigger and more imposing than the horses from the other provinces. With that in mind, may I ask you to recommend any horse game that may present an animation example with big, north-like horses? SoC showerd a good perspective on how hind legs would move, but I'd imagine it would differ if a horse's size and mass were noticably bigger.

[@YTRattle]

Hey Wanshang! That's so cool! It must be so interesting being able to animate horse! I'm far from an expert, more like a dilletante XD I would suggest Zelda Breath of the Wild for a heavier horse. I think their animation was pretty good overall. Star Stable is okay-ish. Their shires are pretty good, but overall, there's always a sort of stiffness to the movements. It's funny, now that you mention it, very few games actually add big horses to their games.

[@wanshang4901]

@@YTRattle Thank you for a swift reply

[@wanshang4901]

​@@YTRattle On the topic of big horses. The major difficulty with them is their sheer weight. Like, look at the Skyrim horses while comparing them to Oblivion horses. And then look at the RDR horse. Animators try to show how that weight would affect their movement, thus making like they run or walk as if they're carrying a mountain, aka folding under their own weight. Which is not true at all! Yes, big horses do make an impression that you are dust under their hooves and they can smach you without even trying, but they do not have any problem operating that weight and feeling like a feather personally. Like, only the pregnant horse would actually be slowed down because the baby IS an additional weight, unlike their natural mass. It's like asking a lion why can it pounce at you as if gravity is a joke or wonder how a cat can jump on the highest shelf in your house. Big horses have proper strengh to live nice and cozy with their big hulking bodies. But animators often assume that they don't. And I'm not talking animators like those who draw horses. Those are often very on point with heavy, big horses, unlike game animators, who are really struggling to make it realistic.

[@YTRattle]

@@wanshang4901 I think you got the problem spot on. It's the weight. The biggest draw back of animating a horse with CGI is that a 3D model is restrictive. You can only work within the confines of the rig. Translating weight becomes tricky, unless the rig has a weight to it. Compare that to 2D animation and you can manipulate the movement in each frame. Heavy horses, as you so rightfully put, are light on those feet. But the weight is still translated in how they sway their bodies. I've always felt their movements are more 'sway' than other horses. Also, would you be willing to chat further on Discord? :D

[@wanshang4901]

@@YTRattle Sure, if you'd like to. I'll leave mine here since I can't seem to find yours in the channel info. Yor#1684

[@firefly_the_rescue9308]

Ayeee, I was the comment about “lesson in style not working”! It still hasn’t worked, eheh. I’ve spent 15 hours on this game and it made me really upset that I couldn’t get my money back as I spent too long on this game for a refund. Thank you for this review, I regret spending $26 on this game.

[@YTRattle]

Oh damn, hi! :D I am seriously, going to have to make a part 2 for this game. it's ridiculous how many problems I missed! Believe me, I regret spending that money as well! Thanks for watching firefly! ♥

[@bunapapaya8]

The sad thing about this video is that it's well over an hour long and still doesn't touch on everything there is to say about why this game is disappointing, frustrating, tedious and at times rage-inducing. Having played this game for about 60 hours, I feel like for literally everything the game gets right, there's a huge "BUT" to it that takes it down to "meh" at best, and "completely awful" at worst. It's a shame. The bones for a perfectly fine little horse game are definitely there, but unfortunately that's all there is to it: bare bones. Everything is surface-level and feels pretty lackluster. I went into this with quite low expectations based on the promo material (despite all the hype surrounding it), and I'm still majorly disappointed by what I got for my money. And since the devs don't seem to be interested in addressing any of these glaring issues beyond the (very much needed) bug fixes and maybe some minor quality of life updates like more camera settings and fast travel, I don't think this game will ever become much more than what it is right now: the sad shadow of what could have been a nice horse game.

[@YTRattle]

Amen! A lot of comments have been sharing some problems, and there's one that told a story of 'putting a horse in the breeding stall, not knowing about fast travel and then running back to the estate for twenty minutes'. I couldn't believe it! The amount of problems this game has can fill and encyclopedia. And it's sad, because there IS something that could have been realised had they bothered to do so.

[@peepysprite]

Despite all the problems, visually this is my favorite among Current horse games. The animations are pleasingly stylized and alive rather than so many stiff failed attempts at hyperrealism.

[@YTRattle]

I agree! I love the visual style! It's so different than other games!

[@pandoraelfe3373]

The long awaited video !! You did a wondedul job Rattle !! (This is feinny from the server)

[@skylarjohnson7779]

"We expected something else" you mean something that actually works?

[@ChestnutMustang]

I've grown up playing horse games all my life and I don't think a single one I've played messed up the camera mechanics as much as Horse Tales has. Combined with how heavily punished you are for making mistakes, it makes the gameplay an absolute nightmare. At least with other horse games I've played, if you make a mistake you get punished, but it doesn't set you back an unreasonable amount. It will either make you move forward and knock something over, or set you back up in front of the fence so you have a much better chance of making it over. On top of THAT, your horse gets dirty every time you crash into a fence! And then this game has the gall to make you lose fame when your horse gets dirty while racing. Like, there are a lot of realistic elements to this game, and I would call getting less fame for getting dirty while racing something completely unrealistic! Horses get hot, sweaty, and dirty on race tracks and cross country courses all the time, why do they need to look so pristine for the photo finish? I think you hit the nail on the head when you said this game loves punishing players. You hit so many points I thought of while playing this, and I'm glad I'm not the only one to notice.

[@emeli_d]

Im playing this five months later and Im really enjoying it :)

[@YTRattle]

Hey! That's great! Did they fix a lot of the issues?

[@BlinkingTwin]

Was hoping you'd cover this. It was a huge letdown, especially after how the main dev was going on about how they were going to make THE good horse game on Twitter. Oh well. I suppose I'll have to stick to the true best horse game, Red Dead Redemption 2

[@YTRattle]

The game was such a disappointment, the marketing didn't really help matter :\ Glad you enjoyed the video ^^

[@misseswallard]

Never knew this game exsisted, but you did an excellent job making a thorough review of the good and bad. Even if I don't agree with you on the grooming points, I love those minigames tbh. When they're not there I feel like one of my fave things about real horses is missing. But hey, agree to disagree on that point ^^ Another funny thing though: the chart on 1:06:39,,,,, I have that saved on my computer for references of horse colours and patterns for my art when I wanna draw horses. And the even funnier part is that I've had it for YEARS and never knew it was a breeding guide for this game. 🤣🤣

[@novaisvexed9533]

wow! the group of people who helped with this must have been pretty cool people 👀

[@YTRattle]

I'm not saying they were awesome... But they were awesome. 😎

[@bunapapaya8]

They sure are! ...or so I've heard.

[@Phoenix.thorns]

The best 👌🏻

[@KawaiiBabyTragon]

3:14 I can't stop laughing at this, I'm so sorry.

[@YTRattle]

LOLLLOL It's a perfect ASS!