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Final Fantasy's latest Dawntrail expansion has arrived - and we have some content on that for you - but the big news is that Square has revamped the visuals to better take advantage of current-gen consoles. Guest reviewer Marc 'Try4ce' Duddleson knows this game inside and out and has been tracking its progress for years, so who better than to tackle Final Fantasy 14's latest chapter?

00:00 - Intro
02:01 - Ambient Occlusion
06:42 - Soft Shadows
10:31 - Lighting Upgrades
11:46 - Grass and Flowers
13:43 - Textures and Shaders
21:40 - Character Rendering
24:18 - Clothes and Equipment
26:43 - Anti-Aliasing
31:45 - DLSS and FSR
35:37 - 120Hz on Consoles
38:55 - 30fps Limiter on Consoles
40:46 - Conclusion

 

[adamsapple]

50 min video, not gonna go through the whole thing. Copying some cliff notes from the article:

120hz support and native VRR support added to PS5 / Series.

Thankfully, PS5, Series X and Series S users do get some meaningful new modes. All three platforms now support 120Hz, with PS5 and Series X are generally turning in framerates ranging from the 60s to 100s at 1440p and a little higher at 1080p. That doesn't make for a great experience without VRR, with the 60Hz cap providing more stable frame-rate delivery, but with VRR the new mode can provide a nice increase to motion clarity and I used this for the bulk of my playtime so far.

PS5 / Series X get about all the enhancements with the PC update while PS4 and Series S owners get a lesser extent.

It's also been great to see that the PS5 and Series X versions are virtually free from compromise against PC. Minor differences in AF, AA and an extra AO setting are about all that separates them from PC, other than performance potential of course, and that makes playing on the more powerful current-gen consoles a joy. PS4 and Series S players do have to accept some rough edges, but the main features of the graphical update are largely intact for them too.

Series S uses FXAA instead of the newer post AA that PS5/Series X use, which can give it the appearance of sharper IQ when they're all running at the same resolution:

Meanwhile, Series S uses FXAA, creating an odd situation where the Series S image at 1440p has arguably better image quality versus Series X or PS5 at the same resolution when things are relatively stationary. These are generally subtle differences at a regular living room viewing distance, but it's weird and could be better.

The draconian chat keyword filter from launch has been fixed / eased on Xbox:

I'm also happy to say that the aggressive mandatory chat filtering that plagued Xbox for months after that version launched seems to have eased up significantly. It is still possible to trigger it with innocent conversation, but my experience so far suggests that the situation has improved enough that I now feel comfortable in recommending the Xbox version.

Final Fantasy 14's new 7.0 graphics update transforms PC, PS5 and Series X

Final Fantasy 14's 7.0 graphics update is here - so how does the game look on PC, PS5 and Series X/S?

www.eurogamer.net

 

[Physiognomonics]

Good old FXAA is still kicking asses I see!

 

[Moridianae]

Probably will get a signifcant boost on the PS5 Pro, for those that do get it.

I remember the PS4 Pro version was nice.

 

[Crispy Gamer]

Wait is that an ign guy doing commentary? I guess they're fully integrated now ... happy about a 120hz option

 

[adamsapple]

Wait is that an ign guy doing commentary? I guess they're fully integrated now ... happy about a 120hz option

Marc Duddleson from My Life in Gaming, self described FF14 super-fan.

He did their last FF14 article and video as well.

 

[SkyHighTrees]

dis dude is really thorough, dis that final fantasy conoisseur

 

[Crispy Gamer]

Marc Duddleson from My Life in Gaming, self described FF14 super-fan.

He did their last FF14 article and video as well.

He's really good

 

[intbal]

I love it when Marc does these.
Always a definitive analysis.

 

[drotahorror]

Good old FXAA is still kicking asses I see!

Remember when fxaa was blurry? Guess at this point it's actually sharp compared to all the bullshit post fx and aa methods they use now (in some cases).

 

[RoboFu]

I may resub for a month to check it out.

 

[Revolutionary]

It should be pointed out that 7.0 was only the first phase of the graphics update, so they're still working on it.


Also, wtf is he talking about with this:

They didn't have to do it - Final Fantasy 16 has never gotten a graphics update

Why would XVI need a graphics update? It just came out lol

 

[adamsapple]

Why would XVI need a graphics update? It just came out lol

I think he means more of an optimization patch because the game hasn't received one since launch, the performance mode is still kind of sht.

 

[Thabass]

I think he means more of an optimization patch because the game hasn't received one since launch, the performance mode is still kind of sht.

It could be because even at the base level, the PS5 Pro, by itself, may not necessitate the need for a graphics patch. Time will tell of course.

 

[Revolutionary]

I think he means more of an optimization patch because the game hasn't received one since launch, the performance mode is still kind of sht.

I wouldn't call an optimization patch a "graphics update", especially within the context of XIV's actual graphics update.

I think he just confused his Final Fantasy numbers and meant XV or maybe even XI because "has never gotten" implies a larger passage of time.

 

[Boralf]

I recently started playing again and I dont see any difference.

 

[Myths]

Biggest thing would be shadow cascades for me. Bugs the hell out of me when draw distance is short and artifacts appear as you rotate the camera. Also, the halo on character models…

 

[adamsapple]

I wouldn't call an optimization patch a "graphics update", especially within the context of XIV's actual graphics update.

I think he just confused his Final Fantasy numbers and meant XV or maybe even XI because "has never gotten" implies a larger passage of time.

Keep in mind the guy doing this video is not a regular DF guy, he's contributing just for FF14. He might not have all of his terminologies down

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

Looks good overall!

Will be interesting to see what they do next for the graphics as they're not stopping.