Up to this point, The Legend of Khiimori is a game I’ve primarily known as that pretty chill-looking Mongolian mail delivery game heavy on horses. Sure it’s clearly got some survival elements to it, but the main draw has always – and from what Edwin’s told me based on his time with it – been in galloping across pleasant plains.
However, with Khiimori’s latest update, those plains have become infected by a supernatural scourge.
“A mysterious force called ‘Savdag-un khor’ (poison of the earth spirit) now spreads across the land, corrupting wildlife, twisting the environment, and opening dangerous rifts throughout the world,” reads the synopsis of the corruption update, info on which devs Aesir Interactive have delivered on horseback to the RPS mailbox. “Players must craft new tools, push deeper into the corruption and fight to restore balance while managing expanded survival mechanics and exploring new frontiers.”
In practice, this Savdag-un khor takes the form of purple patches and pockets draped across the land. There are rifts and zones of corruption, where new enemy wildlife called Knots and Gnarls pop up to attack. Assuming the creature being fought in this article’s featured image is one, you’re in for spooky Lovecraftian plant warfare.
Naturally, your courier’s job is to clear patches of this corruption as they make their deliveries, with cleansing arrows and warding totems at their disposal. There’s also a new horse, the Breton, which Aesir say is their “largest and strongest” breed to date. I assume that makes it likely to be an endgame ride for masterful Mongolian mailpeople.
As much as Khiimori’s still on the list of games I’ve yet to give a go, I’ll be interested to see how this update to draft in more hostile environments and creatures goes down with established players. It feels more like something I’d expect to see in one of Guerilla’s Horizon games than what’s long looked to be a more historically-focused Mongolian riding game, but perhaps it’s in need of something funky to inject some fresh challenge to the delivery schedule following Khiimori’s early access debut in March.