The way I like to see things, most everything has been done before when it comes to any kind of medium. It's hard to come up with something TRULY original. Some of my favorite games, shows, books, ect. All have elements that have been used countless times already. But, they're still able to become unique and memorable without having to heavily rely on old tropes.
Their basis may be familiar, but they still come off as something that hasn't been done before because the people who made them are skilled, well read, do a lot of research, ect.
An example I can think of was the development behind Agro, the horse from Shadow of the Colossus. From what I remember reading, the creators of the game actually went horse back riding to get an idea of how a horse actually acts and moves around. They also made the decision to have Agro act independently even while riding her. You can steer her, stop her, and get her to go faster, but you don't directly control her.
As far as I know, not very many other games, if any handle horse riding like that.
Sorry, for going a bit off-topic, but this thread has made me think a lot about this kind of thing.
