Horse Vet 3D (Nintendo 3DS) Review

Horse Vet 3D has two major parts to the game: the simulation aspect of running a vet, and the actual 'care' portion where the horse is treated. The simulation aspect is the better of the two, as the game centres around managing money made from the treatments that can then be converted into expanding the vet operation. Options range from buying additional medicine, to expanding stalls to house more horses. The treatment section is a click-and-drag affair that falls into simplicity pretty rapidly.

The typical gameplay experience revolves around characters walking into the vet office, and the treatment mini-game beginning, and after its conclusion a typical reward of around $100 is given, which then can be spent expanding, buying medicine and so on. The major problem is there is little strategy; as there is a constant stream of patients, there is never a need to prioritise expenses…or anything, for that matter.

This problem also is manifested in the treatment portion of the game, as there is no need to think. The problem on the horse is outlined in a coloured circle that corresponds to what 'treatment' is required; a blue circle is solved by the 'blue' injection tool. The visual display is nice for reducing confusion, but it vastly removes a sense of being invested in this creature and becomes more of a 'yellow to yellow, blue to blue' repetition.

The major missed opportunity for Horse Vet 3D is the feeling of immersion within the fantasy of being a horse vet. The largest issue is in discovering what is wrong with the horse - a person comes in, tells a story and then a list of potential problems is brought up, such as 'broke leg, scabies, chaffing,' where these are solved by dragging the 'investigation' tool over areas of the horse and the list is crossed off until only the single real problem remains, to which the screen instantly changes to the next section of applying the coloured tools.

The issue at hand is, there is no feedback at all; the tool is simply dragged across the horse, and the next section begins. It would be far more improved if there was some sort of story of what is occurring, such as pointing to the leg; "Nope, the bone feels fine here," and then 'broke leg' is crossed off, "The skin on his back looks fine," and chaffing goes away.

It is quite clear how fast the game repeats itself, as nearly every call is "My horse was jumping in thorns," or some version of scabies, to which (regardless of the problem) 'disinfect' to 'anti-parasite' application solved nearly all horse problems. If there was a real narrative to each horse, Horse Vet 3D would be better enhanced instead of being faceless scabies patients that are treated over and over. A sense of investigation is sorely missing, but with it, this title would be a lot better, instead of the click, drag, repeat game that it actually is.