Mounts in gaming have quite a long history. While they've typically taken the form of horses, plenty of games have more than that, and it would be unfair to exclude them. They serve so many purposes, be it cargo storage, transport, combat, and even friend. And yet, despite all that, very few games have actually made it feel good.
It can be hard. Should the mount be an extension of you, or should they feel like you're attempting to control them? How realistically should they move versus freedom of movement? It's a hard balance to strike, especially when you bring combat into the mix. That said, some games make it a starring feature, and do it well.
8 Super Mario World - Yoshi 🌠
So right off the bat, Yoshi may seem like an odd one to include. Especially when we're talking about Mario because it's not like he's going around bonking people into the afterlife. But then, Yoshi has been a pretty major part of the franchise since Super Mario World, and he's been a pretty reliable mount since then.
Thing is, Yoshi just straight up eats people. Mario can throw his fireballs and stomp people, but Yoshi eats them and pops out an egg. But since Mario games are primariy platformers, he's pretty damn agile too. Sure, Mario isn't exactly a game centered around combat, and yet Yoshi is surprisingly good at it all the same.
7 Middle-earth: Shadow Of War - The 💮Many Mounts ♑
Lord of the Rings is, by all means, a juggernaut of a franchise, from the books and movies to copious number of games. And yet so few games have ever managed to properly portray the personality of the world. Until, of course, the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Middle-earth games. Focusing less on the Rings of Power, it finds its places 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:in the home of orcs and the beasts of Mordor.
And what better way to express that personality than controlling them yourself? Caragors are built for speed and cওan stealth ar🦋ound enemies. Graugs tower above, sweeping attacks and devastating the battlefield. Drakes let you fly high, raining down fire from above. Not only that, you can also seamlessly jump between them, and they feel like they fit in the grand scheme of things.
6 🌜 Shadow Of The Colossus - Agro
Frequently lauded as Fumito Ueda's crowning work, and one of the most artistically realized video games, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Shadow of the Colossus has quite the legacy. And thou𒊎gh of course the Colossi themsel𒐪ves are the true stars of the game, their gigantic scale intended as a deterrence from your assault, Agro is a close second.
Your beloved companion throughout the whole journey, Agro is a great mount. But more than anything is how he fits into the gameplay. He has his own weight, he pulls against you, and you just have to trust he'll relay your commands. But there's a trust to be seen in how you can simply stand atop his back to aim your bow, plan a jump or even just raise your sword high to light your way. You're two distinct entities working in tandem.
5 ♒ ꧃Red Dead Redemption - Your Trusty Steeds
Unlike Rockstar's typical fair of race cars and fighter jets in the Grand Theft Auto series, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Red Dead Redemption is set in a much slower world, which you're forced to soak in. Horses are the one companion you can truly rely on, and this is true for Red Dead Redemption 2 especially.
Not only do they have a weight of their own, but 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:as your bond grows with them, so do their abilities. They can put up a better chase, stay more steady as you aim your weapons, and get you out of danger in an instant. The world takes on a whole different pace without them, even if they don't fundamentally change the combat itself.
4 Mount And Blade - The 🍨Cavalry
Originally released in 2008 to a mixed reception, the one thing that worked entirely in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Mount and Blade's favor was its combat. Unlike many other games with set values and damage types, Mount and Blade relied instead on a physics-based system, where your direction and speed would massively influence damage.
Think then of horses. When you're galloping so fast across the battlefield that an enemy can't even see you coming, you're going to deal some severe damage. You dash at a running enemy with a lance, and they're all but dead. Maybe you want to circle them with a sword instead. Horses have a terrifying speed, and it can be just as dangerous if a javelin comes your way, but the damage you can dish out is worth it.
3 Twilight Princess - Epona 🏅 ♛
Symbolism is pretty rife throughout the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Legend of Zelda series, and plenty of that is tied to recurring characters and locales. Aside from the obvious in Link and Zelda, Epona is one of the most prevailing characters. Link's trusty steed throughout many of the games, Epona truly shines, dashing across the expansive Hyrule Field of Twilight Princess.
Though Epona has appeared in plenty of games before and since, there's a certain element to her in Twilight Princess that isn't quite replicated. There's the feeling of perfect unison between her and Link as she dashes after enemies while Link brandishes his sword. You feel like a legendary hero of yore.
2 Monster Hunter Rise - The Monsters Themselves ꧑
The 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Monster Hunter series is of course famed for its wondrous, iconic monsters. They've always had so much personality, but it wasn't actually until Monster Hunter World that you could truly see these monsters interact with each other. And though World itself allows you to mount Monsters, it was only in order to deal damage. Rise takes this a step further.
Introduced through Wyvern Riding, when a monster is weakened enough through silkbind attacks or other methods, they become rideable. They're hefty, none of them quite give you smooth control over them. But all the same, you gain access to 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:their devastating moveset, and can even create some turf wars of your own.
1 ♔ Elden Ring♎ - Torrent
You probably saw this one coming at this point. At first, it sounds unbelievable. Souls-combat being adapted into an open-world game by FromSoftware themselves. Surely a series built on such meticulous lore and enemy placement couldn't work like that, let alone adapting such varied combat to horseback.
And yet, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Elden Ring works. So much of your magic works flawlessly, different weapons have different reach and attacks on horseback, bows finally feel natural to use, and the complete freedom of movement afforded by Torrent is unp﷽recedented for a FromSoftware game. The mounted combat truly shines when you come face to face with another horseback enemy on the great fields of The Lands Between.
