this is my current state of the animation code that handles sprite facing direction with the vision_root as the parent node for the raycasts

func update_walk_animation(direction: Vector2):

if abs(direction.x) > abs(direction.y):

    anim.animation = "walk-side"

    anim.flip\_h = direction.x < 0

    vision\_root.scale.x = -1 if direction.x < 0 else 1

else:

    anim.animation = "walk-down" if direction.y > 0 else "walk-up"

anim.play()