Now, I know that AoC's current mounts are a first pass, work in progress, unfinished, barely done, not even close to complete, super basic, far from over - overall shit. So this thread is mostly about the "what have you seen in other games? Give examples" kinda feedback, that Intrepid love to ask us about for other stuff.
I played a bit of Chrono Odyssey this weekend and even the tiiiiniest bit of horse riding that I did felt AMAZING. The sense of speed, sounds, movement of the horse (especially on turns and lateral movement) - all felt incredible to me. The horse truly felt like a wild animal between your legs.
3:55 to 4:45 here is me riding it for the first time. 14:10 to 15:00 is a ride upward an incline and a super cool turning animation at 14:40.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rEpAXZY8xY
But what I loved the most is the mount's ability to go over somewhat difficult terrain. 18:16 to 18:45 shows it best. The horse can not only jump up tight ledges, but also kinda "slides upwards" over obstacles. It's a very forgiving movement design, as compared to Ashes, where my god damn wolf can't jump over a tiny rock.
So, while it might feel somewhat unrealistic for a horse to do that (though I do believe horses can climb steep inclines just fine, rocks included), I do believe that the FEEL of this control/movement is muuuuch better than what we currently have in Ashes.
And, to reiterate, yes, mounts in Ashes are not done, so I'm asking for this to be a goal for the future. And also, this should be THE BASE for all mounts, just as horses in Ashes are the base lvl mount. But, ideally, all the other cool mounts that we've got should have even better/cooler movement, with some dash/flair abilities to spruce up those long treks across Verra.