I love the new detailed graphics but the assassin’s run animation looks so unnatural. The worst part that really triggers me is the stop animation. Well, it probably isn’t a stop animation created by an artist but a long and ugly transition between the run and stand poses generated by a complicated animation system. It’s like “oh, I used that silly run animation and pose, now I pull the brakes like a cartoon character and try to slowly transition into a stand pose used by normal human beings”. It’s painful to watch it and annoys me so much that I’ll probably not play the assassin because these animations are played very often.
The legacy D2 doesn’t have this issue because its animations consist of keyframes without transitions between them. That simple technique might make it easier to pull off “ninja themed” movement but it shouldn’t be impossible with a bit more fluid animations. A good example is genji in OW who has unusual but often fluid ninja style movement that doesn’t feel too unnatural and irritating.
The transition between run and stop probably looks bad because the assassins run pose is too different from the stand pose: she bends forward and the position of the whole upper body might be a bit lower. The other classes don’t have this issue. The necromancer also has a bit unnatural run animation but that isn’t nearly as bad as that of the assassin.
It feels like the developers committed to the assassin’s “ninja run pose” and then didn’t properly finish the implementation. This issue could probably be solved in many different ways but the easiest might be giving the assassin a normal run animation without a ninja pose. That solution doesn’t involve messing with a complicated animation system. Speeding up the transition between the run and stand poses could also help but it’s difficult to tell without actually trying and seeing it.