Ugly body movements during horse gallopping

[The Frisian Algerian]

Did anyone notice that when you ride the horse slowly, it looks very good, with Yasuke and Naoe hopping up and down naturally, and their body moves flexibly and natural.

But the moment you go a bit faster (pushing the joystick further forward) it becomes really ugly. Both Yasuke and Naoe then move very stiffly and almost float above the horse.

It's so incredibly off-putting that I never run fast with the horse.
How Ubisoft missed this is beyond me.

I hope they patch this in the future because it interferes with an otherwise gorgeous game.

[ZemX]

Isn't that the proper riding position for a galloping horse though? Looks like they are just standing up a bit in the stirrups and hunching over the horse's neck. A bit like the position a horse race jockey takes, but not as extreme.

The animations in this game are pretty good, so I doubt they messed this up.

[The Frisian Algerian]

Originally posted by ZemX:

Isn't that the proper riding position for a galloping horse though? Looks like they are just standing up a bit in the stirrups and hunching over the horse's neck. A bit like the position a horse race jockey takes, but not as extreme.

The animations in this game are pretty good, so I doubt they messed this up.

Oh, like I said, this game is gorgeous.
But once the horse goes faster the characters look very stiff on it. It does not look good.
Compare it with Ghost of Tsushima or Witcher 3. The bodies of the characters move way more natural and flexible.

[Cairn.L]

Originally posted by The Frisian Algerian:

But the moment you go a bit faster (pushing the joystick further forward) it becomes really ugly. Both Yasuke and Naoe then move very stiffly and almost float above the horse.

That's because they both slightly stand up, this is a technique to avoid bumping or being thrown off balance when galloping.
Look carefully.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3464858618
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3464858599

Meanwhile, Ghost of Tsushima is sitting rigidly in the saddle, of course you will see lots of bouncing movement.
Skip to 2:03
https://youtu.be/9FP5uywcwVA?t=103

Originally posted by The Frisian Algerian:

It's so incredibly off-putting that I never run fast with the horse.
How Ubisoft missed this is beyond me.

It's not their fault when you don't know horse-riding techniques or notice how they ride their horses differently, lol!

[Acpolax]

Originally posted by The Frisian Algerian:

But the moment you go a bit faster (pushing the joystick further forward) it becomes really ugly. Both Yasuke and Naoe then move very stiffly and almost float above the horse.

Its quite the oposite of stiff, they just absorb the bumps with their legs instead of eating them with their spine.

[ZemX]

So I had a look at it in game and I guess the only oddity with it is... there's no stirrups. :)

[Cairn.L]

Originally posted by ZemX:

So I had a look at it in game and I guess the only oddity with it is... there's no stirrups. :)

Oops!

[Darren Evans]

Some animation is a bit clunky. Certainly not as good as the fluid quality you see in Ghost of Tsushima both on horseback and walking / running.

When off the horse and sprinting, it's like that 'Naruto run' style from those anime episodes and it just looks derpy.

Also ugly is the Objectives system of quests. You soon find your Objectives board infested with gangs whose members you have to track down and kill. You obviously have the main Shinbakufu group to deal with but it does not stop there. Soon you have to deal with The Twisted Tree gang and it's not long before you see a crap-load of other gangs being added to the Objectives screen.

The devs sure went overboard on overusing that quest content type and it all soon becomes very repetitive and boring, especially when it's mixed in with other similarly dull tasks like killing 50 or 100 bandits or outlaws. It's not an inherently bad task to do but start copy & pasting this type of mission chain over and over and it's derivative and bad, Devs need to keep the concept of "Too much of a good thing' in mind when creating compelling content for the game world.

The whole Objectives board also means story vs side quests are mashed together with no way of figuring out which is which.

On a positive note, the Anvil game engine updates for draw distance, RT lighting distance, somewhat minimal LOD pop-in of vegetation and terrain etc are great. Hands up who would love to see a AC: Black Flag remake using this new Anvil engine✋

[Acpolax]

Originally posted by ZemX:

So I had a look at it in game and I guess the only oddity with it is... there's no stirrups. :)

This
Animations do look fine but there are actually really no stirrups.

[ZemX]

Originally posted by Acpolax:

This. Animations do look fine but there are actually really no stirrups.

tbh, I only noticed this finally by going into photo mode and swinging the camera around to the side. From the normal following camera, it's not that noticeable.

The one thing that does bug me about this game compared to the past few installments is how lazy the horse is when you call. In previous games, your good boy would follow you anywhere if you whistled and no matter what would almost always catch up to you and allow you to mount. In Shadows, it seems to give up after a few seconds if it hasn't caught up to you right away, as if to say, "Really? You wanted me to chase you? I have my dignity, you know!"

[Acpolax]

Originally posted by ZemX:

Originally posted by Acpolax:

This. Animations do look fine but there are actually really no stirrups.

tbh, I only noticed this finally by going into photo mode and swinging the camera around to the side. From the normal following camera, it's not that noticeable.

The one thing that does bug me about this game compared to the past few installments is how lazy the horse is when you call. In previous games, your good boy would follow you anywhere if you whistled and no matter what would almost always catch up to you and allow you to mount. In Shadows, it seems to give up after a few seconds if it hasn't caught up to you right away, as if to say, "Really? You wanted me to chase you? I have my dignity, you know!"

There are different ways you can summon the horse, either by toggle then the horse will stay behind you or you hold the button till you mount.

[The Frisian Algerian]

Originally posted by Darren Evans:

Some animation is a bit clunky. Certainly not as good as the fluid quality you see in Ghost of Tsushima both on horseback and walking / running.

Agreed. I am not talking about gallopping when pressing L stick.
I am talking about the fast pace of normal walking speed of the horse. That is, when u push the stick all the way forward.
It is so bloody stiff and ugly.