Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch
OpenCritic Rating
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch Trailers
Horse Tales - Emerald Valley Ranch | Launch Trailer EU | Aesir Interactive & Microids
Horse Tales - Emerald Valley Ranch | Announcement Trailer l Microids & Aesir Interactive
Critic Reviews for Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch
A pleasant and undemanding game clearly aimed at younger players, Emerald Ranch may still interest adults who want to chill out with some lovely horses. Defying all expectations, Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch is actually rather good!
Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch is a sad tale for the much-needed resurgence of equestrian-focused video games. Littered with poor design choices and endless amounts of bugs, every attempt to seep some joy out of the game was hindered. This comes as a shame. The bones of a good game are in there from the exploration of an interconnected world to a good start in both horse gameplay and town management and restoration. Boiling down to more than just a game released too early, Horse Tales also is a game too ambitious for its own good and not what was expected or needed. Take this one out to the pasture, they're done.
In the end, Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch missed that first jump and hopefully the developers will release future patches to resolve the control mechanics. As a result, it was a difficult grind for my daughter and I that revolved around the inconsistencies with controls and graphics which hampered our overall enjoyment.
Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch is a lovely-looking game. Its art style and open world freedom engaged us right from the off, like a horse-centric, combat-free Breath of the Wild. Except it doesn’t take long for its design flaws to rear their ugly head. It’s such a shame that the act of playing isn’t anywhere near as fun as it should be, thanks to poor controls and bad design choices. Still, if you really love horses, some of its flaws may be easier to overlook. The fact is that it’s still better than many other horse games out there.
Anticipations were a bit too high for an indie game of this level, and yet it didn't fail. Even though most gamers would hate Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch because of its current state and the complex mechanism, a horse lover would love it. This game is purely made with the intention of pleasing this particular segment of gamers. Simply said, if you enjoy riding horses and enjoy spending time with them, then there is no better game than Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch.
Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch certainly has potential. But nearly all of it is lost under piles and piles of bugs and technical issues. It's really sad to see the game in the state it has been released.
Review in German | Read full review
Although it's a good step towards the horse game fans have been longing for, unfortunately, Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch still isn't quite the game players have long wanted.
Horse Tales: Emerald Valley Ranch has taken me on an emotional rollercoaster. At times, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed playing it – galloping around the wide and varied landscape (the scenery is stunning), planning and building my estate. At other times, I’ve plummeted into an abyss of despair, dangling in mid-air with no option but to reset, and losing hours of gameplay as the autosave didn’t work properly. This is a brilliant game but it needs a lot of improvement to reach its potential. The publishers said that all versions are going to receive additional development to improve quality and fix some bugs. However, at the time of publishing this review, it’s not clear when that content will be released and what will be fixed. So until then, I can’t give this game any thumbs up.
