I'm old enough to remember a time when cars were the way that new consoles and GPUs showcased what was possible with all their added power. Rounder wheels, more reflective windscreens, interiors rendered with a level of detail so granular as to seem almost obscene—these were the bellweathers by which we knew how far the videogame industry had come.
But cars have looked real good for a long while now, so we've all moved on. Now we judge ourselves by the horses: shifting muscles, taut sinews, testicles that react appropriately to weather—this is how we show off our teraflops in 2025. The Witcher 4's recent tech demo was no different, with Ciri's steed Kelpie taking centre stage as they made their way through Kovir's very, very pretty mountain landscape.
It's a good-looking horse, but don't take my word for it. Take the word of Alice Ruppert of The Mane Quest (via GamesRadar) a bonafide videogames expert, horse expert, and videogames horse expert who pored over CDPR's depiction of Kelpie with a fine-tooth comb. In summary? It's one hell of a realistic horse, my friend.
I really encourage you to go read Ruppert's full write-up, entire site, and then our very own interview with her from April, but I'll zero in on a few details to give you a taste of just how seriously CDPR is taking its horses. At one point in the UE5 demo, everything slowed down so CDPR's devs could zoom in on Kelpie's rippling muscles and shiny coat, showing off the depth of the horsey simulation it was pulling off. "I’ll be honest and admit that I got tears in my eyes the first time I watched this," says Ruppert, "out of sheer 'oh my god they’re taking the horse seriously' awe."
Which, I have to be honest, is a level of passion I'm not sure I can match for anything. Ruppert calls out a few elements of the simulation for particular praise: Kelpie's trot and canter, the way she approaches Ciri when called, and the fact that Ciri (and the demo generally) seems to treat Kelpie like a living thing with feelings rather than a summonable vehicle.
That's not to say it's a 1:1, perfect depiction of a horse as one would appear in real life. There are some flaws. For instance, Kelpie's "left fetlock is awkward and stiff in how it comes forward." Fortunately, I have no clue what a fetlock is, and if you'd asked me before I read Ruppert's site I'd have assumed it was some kind of cheese rind. Ruppert admits she's "nitpicking on a very high level here" on a demo that's otherwise "easily one of the overall most impressive and well put together game horse animations ever seen," so I think you and I probably won't notice this stuff when The Witcher 4 eventually ships.
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