Jin's horse is his primary companion and method of travel as he traverses the island of Tsushima. He is your trusty partner for the entire journey. The player is given the option to pick a horse and then given the choice to name it. Jin will refer to the horse by name in-game. The horse can be called by pressing 
.
Description[]
Jin Sakai's first horse dies at the Battle of Komoda Beach. He is soon offered a second horse, which rides with him until he is exiled and escapes from Castle Shimura[1], where it dies from exhaustion and its wounds. A temporary horse is used until Jin plans to return to Castle Shimura to secretly leave Lord Shimura a note. Yuna provides Jin an option to pick a third and final permanent horse.[2]
Available horses[]
During the Prologue, after the battle on Komoda Beach when Jin is escaping from the Mongols with Yuna, you are given the choice between three horses at the stable. A fourth horse is added for those with the Digital Deluxe or Collector's Edition of the game. A fifth horse has been added exclusively for New Game+ and will be given upon starting the mode. This selection is permanent.
The choices in color are:
- Black
- White
- Dapple (grey)
- Thin Brown (selectable during “Heart of the Jito”)
- Golden Buckskin (Digital Deluxe/Collector's Edition horse)
- Black with red mane and tail (New Game+ horse; automatically given when starting the mode)
This is merely a cosmetic choice, no horse has any advantages over another. After selecting a horse you choose its name; Nobu (Trust), Sora (Sky) or Kage (Shadow).
Following the death of Jin's second horse during "Honor and Ash," he receives a temporary Thin Brown horse with a patchy coat. In "Heart of the Jito," Jin is given a new permanent horse with the new name option of Kaze (Wind), alongside the two other name options the player didn't choose previously. The player can select from the two (or three, with the Digital Deluxe/Collector's Edition) horses that were not picked previously, or choose to keep the Thin Brown horse. When starting New Game+, the player chooses from the remaining two names that were not picked during the first playthrough. The player begins the mode with a new black horse with a red mane and tail. This horse will die during the New Game+ playthrough of "Honor and Ash" as well, and when the player starts "Heart of the Jito" later, the choices available for horses and names reset to the original three (Black, White, or Dapple; Nobu, Sora, or Kage).
For the Digital Deluxe/Collector's Edition, if the player chooses the Golden Buckskin horse the first time, they have the option of choosing the Golden horse a second time during "Heart of the Jito." This is the only horse that can be chosen twice during the initial playthrough as the Black, White, Dapple, and Thin Brown horses can only be picked once. However, the name used for the first Golden horse cannot be reused.
Gameplay[]
Jin's horse is the fastest way (outside of fast travel) to get around Tsushima. Whistling with will call the horse to Jin in most situations, though occasionally missions or certain scenarios will prevent Jin from whistling. The horse does not need to be near when Jin calls for it; if it is off-screen it will appear shortly behind Jin, if it is on screen the horse will not "teleport." While riding the horse clicking 
will put the horse into a gallop, 
will have Jin dismount and 
will make Jin jump off the horse.
While riding the horse Jin can engage in simple combat by pressing 
to swing his sword to either side of the horse. A samurai technique in the evasion tree, Mounted Strike, allows Jin to jump from the horse to tackle an enemy and perform Stagger damage by pressing 
. The Half Bow, Longbow and thrown weapons can also be used from horseback. Resources can be collected without getting off of the horse by pressing 
while near them, even while riding at full speed.
When Jin enters combat on the ground, if his horse is nearby it will run away to not be attacked. It cannot be injured or die in combat. Jumping from a relatively high ledge with the horse will cause him to fall over, knocking Jin off his back if he has not already jumped off.
Jin can also ride other horses found in the world, be they Mongol horses or otherwise. After riding them they will respond to Jin's whistle as long as they are within a certain distance of Jin, causing his main horse to no longer respond. However, leaving the other horse behind for long enough will cause Jin's whistle to call his horse again.
Behind the scenes[]
Originally the player could not choose the horse's name, and it was just called Nobu. In the Japanese localization of the game, since the Japanese do not name horses, Jin simply calls by whistling or saying "horse."[3]
Gallery[]
