My Horse: Bonded Spirits
- June 19, 2024
- Games Incubator
- 19h median play time
Get on Steam"My Horse: Bonded Spirits" is a game that puts you in charge of rebuilding a neglected stud farm. You'll need to learn the ins and outs of horse management, develop your skills, and work to return the farm to its former glory. The game also emphasizes the special bond between horses and their caretakers, adding a unique and heartfelt element to the experience.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The horses are well-animated and have distinct personalities, adding charm to the gameplay.
- The game has a nostalgic feel with innovative mechanics, such as grazing and customization options for horses.
- There is potential for the game to improve with updates, and some players find it enjoyable despite its flaws.
- The game is plagued with bugs and glitches, making it frustrating to play, with issues like horses rejecting feed and workers not showing up.
- The controls and camera movement are clunky and unresponsive, leading to a poor gameplay experience.
- The story feels incomplete and repetitive, with a lack of engaging content and a focus on a single horse, limiting the overall experience.
- story49 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 78 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The game's story is criticized for its abrupt ending and lack of meaningful progression, leaving players feeling disappointed after a series of short quests and fetch tasks. While the characters and initial premise show potential, the execution is deemed poor, with many players expressing that the narrative feels incomplete and lacks the expected depth and engagement. Overall, the storyline, although initially interesting, ultimately fails to provide a satisfying conclusion or motivation to continue playing.
“The storyline is what makes the gameplay more interesting; however, we love our uncle.”
“It's a fun game with a really engaging storyline!”
“Quests are fun, looking forward to the rest of the story (let's hope it is not too short, because I've experienced that a lot in such horse games).”
“The story ends abruptly with no real ending or progression; we do a few short 'races' and missions and are quickly left with 'reach bonding level 10'.”
“This is a grind and becomes a chore very quickly, but if you push through it hoping to continue the story, you will be disappointed.”
“The game has a pretty standard 'fix the broken down farm and the relationship with your father' story, but it is poorly executed and does not allow us to do the 'usual' expected competitions against a rival and does not actually progress or have the expected happy ending.”
- graphics30 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 27 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising the character artwork and UI while others criticize the overall quality, describing it as outdated and plagued by bugs. Many users note that NPC graphics and horse animations are particularly lacking, leading to a perception of a game that feels unfinished despite the time and resources invested in its development. Overall, while there are some appealing elements, significant improvements are needed to meet modern standards.
“The graphics are quite nice; it's realistic for the most part.”
“Lovely character artwork and UI.”
“A game that is well programmed, has beautiful graphics, decent animations, and first of all - a game where you can tell that the publishers actually have good knowledge about horses.”
“The NPC's graphics are horrible and need work.”
“A whole team worked on it, they worked on it for a good few years, they had time, feedback from players, resources, and what we get is a watered down game with half-baked features and terrible graphics.”
“The graphics are terrible and the clipping through stuff.”
- gameplay24 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The gameplay is described as nostalgic yet innovative, particularly with mechanics like grazing on grass, but it suffers from clunky controls and stuttering performance. Players express frustration with the shallow stable management system and poor design choices, such as tedious travel distances and unresponsive animations. While there are enjoyable elements in learning to ride and unlock features, many feel the game lacks depth and polish, leading to a mixed overall experience.
“I really like the gameplay and mechanics for this game; it feels really nostalgic but still innovative in some ways (like the grazing on grass, love that).”
“I had fun learning the mechanics and how to ride the horse while unlocking each function.”
“There was potential for the stable management aspect to become a fun bit of gameplay if we could actually choose/edit the horses and ride/train them ourselves rather than being a drag and drop type display screen.”
“Currently a shallow game, but decent for the first 24 hours of gameplay.”
“Although the gameplay is easier, it's still very clunky, and most of your gameplay is going to be 'run from point A to B'.”
“With the horses, grass, and other terrain being bought from the Unity Asset Store, stuttering gameplay and unacceptable rider animations, this game smells of cash grab.”
- stability12 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant stability issues, with numerous bugs and glitches affecting gameplay, such as invisible walls, erratic horse behavior during races, and problematic environmental navigation. Players frequently encounter frustrating technical problems, including persistent visual glitches and items reverting to their previous state upon logging in. Overall, the game's stability is a major concern, leading to a disappointing experience.
“Ignoring the fact the game has so many bugs and glitches such as not being able to explore freely without there being invisible walls all over the majority of the land, the barrel racing where the horse flies and idles with no way of getting out without having to restart the game, and the stable hands being a glitchy mess and glitching all over the place.”
“The cross country jump races (about 3 fences in each) are buggy and the horse gets stuck on top of the jumps a lot.”
“The environment is buggy and difficult to traverse at times.”
- optimization12 mentions
- 8 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with players reporting severe performance issues such as stuttering gameplay, frequent crashes, and poor animations. Many users note that it feels like a poorly executed asset flip from the Unity asset store, requiring low settings to achieve playable frame rates even on decent hardware. Overall, the consensus is that the game is in dire need of optimization improvements.
“It's obviously just a poorly optimized Unity game whose open world is not helping with these issues.”
“With the horses, grass, and other terrain being bought from the Unity Asset Store, stuttering gameplay and unacceptable rider animations, this game smells of cash grab.”
“Badly optimized and feels like an asset flip.”
“It crashes my PC, resets the screen resolution with every start, and despite having an alright rig, this is only really playable in 1080p with everything turned off, low on every setting, and DLSS performance ultra for me.”
- humor6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is initially enjoyable and features crude, sarcastic dialogue that doesn't take itself too seriously, which many players appreciate. However, the humor tends to become repetitive as the gameplay progresses, leading to a less engaging experience overall.
“The characters and dialogue were funny and did not take themselves too seriously, which I enjoyed.”
“It's crude, sarcastic, and funny, which I honestly appreciate!”
“The humor is enjoyable and adds a light-hearted touch to the game.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players note that while grinding can increase the farm's reputation level, it primarily serves to unlock achievements rather than providing significant in-game benefits.
“It raises the reputation level of the farm, but other than grinding for achievements, it has no real benefit.”
- monetization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization of the game has been criticized as a cash grab, with assets sourced from the Unity Asset Store contributing to poor gameplay performance and subpar animations. Players feel that the reliance on purchased assets detracts from the overall quality and experience.
“With the horses, grass, and other terrain being bought from the Unity Asset Store, stuttering gameplay and unacceptable rider animations, this game smells of a cash grab.”
- music2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game features a notable absence of music during map traversal, which is a frequent activity, leading to a lack of auditory engagement during gameplay.
“There is no music while riding over the map (which we have to do a lot).”
- character development2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Character development is positively received, with players appreciating the character designs and voice acting, which evoke nostalgia for classic horse games while still providing an enjoyable experience.
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players find the emotional depth of characters like "muscle mommy," "tsundere jackson," and "wholesome robbie" to be engaging and impactful, contributing significantly to the overall experience of the game.
