Judging by the rearing animation seen in some cutscenes, the horse animations are (at least partially) based on the ever-present and unfortunately still very flawed Horse Animset Pro, which… explains a lot I suppose. In terms of movement however, the Spirit game model looks noticeably worse compared to Riding Free and Untamed. Some of the cartoonish stylization such as Spirit’s comically large neck, broad head and narrow ear placement is unfortunately to be expected of the franchise these days. The horse model is wobbly and sway-backed, has a gigantic neck and got its forelegs bent in all the wrong moments, which is quickly becoming my number one most common horse animation complaint. Here I’ll start with what I didn’t have the time to look at in detail during the preview: the horses and their animations. Now, I know making games is hard and so is animating horses, but oh boy the look of Spirit and his herd is rough. I already described the first hour of the game in quite some detail in my preview article, so I will just refer you to that one for a step by step of first impressions. Because believe me there is plenty to say on that alone. For now, let me examine this new Spirit game for what it is rather than what we might have liked it to be, let’s judge it on its own merits. The franchise’s overall direction is no doubt decided by DreamWorks itself and is not something we can really call the game’s developer or publisher out for.
