Ghost of Tsushima is a game that takes its own narrative rather seriously. Skip to the “Conclusion” header if you’d prefer not to know what happens in the story. Narrative and Historical AuthenticityĬaution: The rest of the article contains major spoilers for the story of Ghost of Tsushima. While that may not be how the average modern equestrian mounts and dismounts their horse, it strikes me as a fitting choice for the game’s mood, and it feels so buttery smooth and intuitive that I found myself missing it the next time I played Horse Tales at work afterwards. I know Inverse Kinematics on quadrupeds are a complex topic but considering all the technological marvels in games nowadays, I just find it hard to believe this is the best that’s possible.Ī convenience that I found surprisingly cool is that Jin can mount and dismount without the horse coming to a complete halt. Or maybe someone did and tried but it was considered not high prio enough and/or out of scope, because let’s be real that’s how games are made. I’m reminded of similar thoughts I had about Elden Ring when I analyzed Torrent’s movement: I understand that game feel was prioritized over making the animation look good from all angles, but I just remain somewhat flabbergasted that apparently nobody in the whole process had enough of an interest in horse locomotion to go “hey this doesn’t look like how a horse moves actually” and do something about it. I’d also like to clarify that I analyse on a frame by frame level to illustrate clearly what is wrong – the reason I go through gameplay recordings frame by frame in the first place is because the end result looks so utterly messed up to my eye, not because these issues only become visible when stopping the animation at inopportune moments. I am once again begging everyone to have a look at Alice Walsh’s twitter thread on horse limbs: the knee joint cannot be bent while the fetlock joint is flexed like that, because there’s no muscle on a horse’s lower leg, and this is not how the mechanics of their tendonds work. Both the Taishu and the Kiso horse are critically endangered today, though preservation efforts are underway. Both breeds are pony-sized, standing at around 13 hands or 130 cm. What kind of horse would a Samurai in the 13th century have been riding, anyway? Our two main options are the Taishu horse, a native breed from Tsushima Island that’s been bred there since the 8th century, or the Kiso horse, which was bred from the 6th century onward on Japan’s main island of Honshu, and which was historically used by the Samurai. The horse model itself looks pretty good to me, though I lack the conformation judging expertise to analyse it in detail. The horses come with traditional Samurai tack, including the characteristic Abumi stirrups and a bridle made of wide cloth bands. That this horse’s coloring is referred to by the special edition is a tad immersion breaking but I chose it anyway. A pop up asks something along the lines of “If you chose the Digital Deluxe horse, it will be with you for your entire journey”. An additional option for some editions of the game is a Bay Dun with zebra striping on the legs and a shiny golden coat color.
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