The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild holds no shortage of activities, from gliding to fighting and even shield surfing. One of the most practical and engaging activities of Hyrule is horseback riding. There is no better way to experience Hyrule’s massive world than taking one’s steed out on the open plains, cutting travel time and giving players a jolt of adrenaline.
With Breath of the Wild 2 coming down the pipeline, Nintendo should take this opportunity to improve upon the horseback riding of Breath of the Wild, as well as expand its role in the land of Hyrule.
6 Tighten Steering
The horses of Breath of the Wild have stats covering strength, speed, and temperament. One essential stat is how quickly a horse turns. When trying to move in a direction with one’s steed, it feels a little sluggish, kind of like moving a tank. It is not all that convenient if another creature or object is in the path.
Steering controls don’t need to be adjusted that much, but just enough will do to leave less of a delay. Likewise, it will also be helpful when trying to snipe some pesky bokoblins while riding by.
5 Horses Should Automatically Navigate Around Objects
The biggest nuisance when it comes to horseback riding is when Link’s steed screeches to a halt in front of a boulder, tree root, or a body of water, simply because Link didn’t point the horse far enough to one side or another.
Horses are capable of jumping over obstacles, but these breaks in the player’s stride happen far too frequently. What would ameliorate this is if the horse adjusted its trajectory within a certain distance from some objects. This would make things a little more forgiving.
4 Teleporting Horses Should Be An Option From The Start
The fast travel option for traversing Hyrule comes in handy, especially considering how immense it is. The drawback to this is that if Link wants to teleport, he can’t bring his horse with him. It’s easy to get attached to the horses, especially since Link can feed and pet them, as well as give them names.
Players can just bring the horse to a stable and pick it up when needed. However, a stable may be a distance away, so it is inconvenient in that respect. Yes, an item to ameliorate this is found in the game, but it shouldn’t be something that has to be earned. As long as players don’t teleport the horse over someplace that will leave it tumbling to its death, then it should not be an issue.
3 Horse Care Simulator
Slight variations of horses are already present within Breath of the Wild. If horses are going to be an integral part of the game, then why not create a full-blown horse care sim? Nintendo should have multiple real-world breeds of horses within the game.
Instead of just parking the horses at the stable, players should be able to care for them, brush them, and exercise them to improve their strength, speed, and stamina. Link can already race a horse around a course for a challenge, so why not include a competitive horse racing circuit where Link can test his steed against other equestrians throughout Hyrule?
2 No More Roadkill
It never fails to churn the gut when Link ends up plowing over an animal in the road because he went too fast. While the extra cooking ingredients are helpful, it would be nice to not have the guilt attached.
If the animals were just a little quicker, or the horse slowed down a fraction before hitting a cute creature, that would help. The humans in games such as Crazy Taxi were programmed so that they would dodge out of the way in the nick of time. That mechanic should be implemented in Breath of the Wild without too much trouble.
1 Just Keep Swimming
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While gamers can see much of Hyrule on horseback, there are simply some places that one’s trusty steed cannot go. Such areas include the hot Gerudo Desert and any body of water, which is perplexing since the horses can swim if knocked into a lake or river.
And yet, when Link rides towards a body of water deep enough, the stallion will just stop dead in its tracks. Link can gently lead his horse into the water, but he falls off his horse right when it starts swimming. No, players do not want to drown their horses by putting too much weight on them, but Link looks pretty light, so any steed that is buoyant enough should be able to carry him.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is available on the Nintendo Switch and Wii U.