That said, I am struck by how the inaccuracies in physics modeling start sticking out like a sore thumb the closer the visuals get to realism. After gawking at the ground and falling rocks in the first scene, I kept getting stuck on the weird movement of her ponytail. Also the landing of the first jump across the chasm.
Picking nits for sure; incredible work here.
A game with cartoonish or simplified rendering can get away with one attack animation, one "working" animation etc; but once the rendering becomes realistic, you need better animations and physics, etc.
Forearms need to be parallel to the gravity vector almost all the time. Arms need to be kept straight almost all the time. The only exceptions for these are the actual top of a motion to move up to the next hold.
All stuff you would never notice if the graphics weren't amazing.
I think I'm so used to seeing unrealistic pony tails and clothes I don't even notice.
Other than Uncharted I don't recall playing games with climbing.. I've spent enough real world climbing time since then it's noticeable now.
Little things like the player model's hands interacting with an invisible flat surface above the incredibly intricate rock textures.
Yes, nits. With the player model acting as a locus for these uncanny interactions, I wonder if there will be a wave of first person games that can take full advantage of the photorealism.
This is masked by using hairstyles which are either not intended to move or which are intended to display limited movement.
Her hair isn't in a true ponytail, anyway. Even with more restricted movement of the hairstyle she has, it still doesn't look right at all.