So yesterday I reviewed 2 horse racing games, Horse Haven, and Rival Stars Racing.
Today I am sharing yet another Horse Simulation game – this time it is a mobile game called My Horse Stories. I am not very far yet into this one. I just started playing it late last night. I haven’t even bred my own horse yet, just still using the first horse I purchased at the market.
I might not have all the right information to give a super accurate review, but I just want to give like an early impression review.
My favorite thing about My Horse Stories is well it actually has a story. It is a little bit of a visual novel – a little – although I think it just gives the illusion of choice and not actual meaningful choice – it’s still a nice touch.
The story is pretty good – totally bringing back Wildfire feels! I just purchased Wildfire on DVD – it was an old TV series from the 90s/early2ks about a “bad girl” who avoids jail time by instead agreeing to help out on a horse ranch. There on the horse ranch she finds love, friendship, family, and a love of horses and a love of riding.
I’m thinking the creators of My Horse Stories are definitely Wildfire fans too! Because the story is super similar! If you’re a 90s/early2ks kid like me, and loved Wildfire, then you’ll enjoy My Horse Stories too! The stories are almost identical really.
Ok enough about the story – the gameplay is quite similar to Horse Haven so far. You do hurdle jumping but unlike Horse Haven, which is 2D, My Horse Stories is 3D so it’s a bit more challenging than Horse Haven.
I can’t speak about breeding because I haven’t gotten far enough yet, so I dunno if it has a genetics system like Rival Stars Racing or if its more like Horse Haven, where x parent and y parent can result in a b or c foal.
And when it comes to graphics, My Horse Stories is very similar to Horse Haven. Very cutesy/cartoony. I haven’t seen fantasy races or colors yet, but like I said I just started playing.
You can dressup your jockey and your horse, and the horses come in various colors and have varying stats which help in the races and dressage shows.
You can also help rebuild the fallen farm by using money from your winnings to help construct or upgrade new buildings on the farm. Unlike Horse Haven there doesn’t seem to be much freedom in how to layout or design your farm. Every building in My Horse Stories seems to have its own space already reserved where it will automatically be built
Many features do not unlock until higher level so I cannot comment on other features but it does seem to offer a lot of ways to train, dress, race, feed, groom, and care for your horse.
Overall: 50/70 72% C- “Good Game For Girls”
Geeky: 3/5 – Slightly more advanced controls and gameplay due to the 3D elements. Lacks the freedom to build your farm the way you want/place buildings on a grid, etc.
Sweetie: 5/5 – Great Story – If you’ve ever watched Wildfire this is like playing a Wildfire visual novel. The horses are cute and cartoony and the human characters are much cuter than the humans in Horse Haven.
Gameplay: 7/10 – This gameplay feels similar so far to Horse Haven – I’m thinking the breeding will be similar to it too. I gave it highish marks here because it adds a 3D element making gameplay much more challenging than the 2D side scrolling of Horse Haven. It also adds in a visual novel component which is nice. But it can’t receive full marks because it loses the farm building creativity/freedom aspects without a grid like system to allow you to decorate and create the farm to your likes.
Story: 8/10 – Actually pretty good story – very similar to Wildfire – and out of the 3 Horse Games I’ve played this week – this by far has the best story. But I mean out of all my games I play – this still wouldn’t be my first choice for a deep story – but it’s fun – it’s a romance/drama about a bad girl teen who learns a tough lesson by having to move to a farm. She has a mother who passed away and a father who has little presence in her life. She struggles to adjust to life on the farm. She comes to care about the people on the farm and finds a love of horses and for racing. She falls in love, and there’s a lot of teenage angst/drama – like Wildfire. – I keep saying that but it’s true lol.
Characters: 8/10 – again see above about the story – same thing, basically Wildfire cute/paste – not super original – but makes for a fun romance drama with some interesting characters. The characters do have dreams/hopes/fears/emotions and feel real – I like this aspect of the game. None of the other Horse games are doing this right now – they should sit up and take notice!
Graphics: 7/10 – Not the best graphics – but my preference is for cartoon graphics like this – and the actual races are in 3D making things fun and challenging. I think the horses and characters are well drawn. I am enjoying it.
Music: 7/10 – I’m not gonna say its the best music I’ve ever heard in a video game, but it is darn catchy – I like both the ranch theme and the race music, although the race music fades to audience cheering – and the cheers intensify as you complete more successful jumps, the audience really gets pumped up! lol. You also hear a lot of nature sound effects back on the ranch. The music does get repetitive but out of the 3 horse games so far, I prefer this one’s music the most.
Replay Value: 5/10 – I’m not sure yet – I can’t accurately judge this yet because I’m not far enough into the game, so I give it a middle of the road score for now until I see more. I think once you play through the story, it may lose a great deal of its appeal. But that’s just speculation at this point.
Overall: 50/70 72% C- “Good Game For Girls”