Final Fantasy XV was the talk of the town last week after the Uncovered Event, which finally revealed a release date for the JRPG that for a long time looked like it was never happening. It also marked the launch of the Platinum Demo – a smaller, more linear demo than Episode Duscae from last year that offered a more recent look at where the game was at on a technical standpoint. And despite looking gorgeous, it has some alarming issues.
Firstly, there’s a lot in the Platinum Demo to get excited about. As Digital Foundry took a deep dive into the demo, they found that features such as dynamic lighting, texture detail and particle effects were all exquisite. Final Fantasy XV is a beautiful looking game, accentuated by some top-notch shadow rendering and animation details, which really bring the game alive. It’s also more stable than Duscae, although given its smaller map that to be expected.
Sadly that’s where the real negative start creeping in. For starters the game doesn’t hit a locked 1080p on either PS4 and Xbox One. Instead, it uses a dynamically scaling resolution that many games have been forced to implement already. This means that on PS4 the game usually runs at around 900p, while it sits closer the majority of the time at 792p on Xbox One. The PS4 can reach 1080p on some occasions (something the Xbox One can’t match), but these are in rare areas.
The compounding issue is that even in this confined demo, the scaled back resolution does little to help the framerate. Both systems struggle to keep 30FPS locked, with the Xbox One trailing the PS4 in most cases. However there are many areas where the framerate dives into the low 20s, and further still down to 15FPS in graphically intensive fights. For a demo that isn’t even rendering a large world on top of the action, that’s quite alarming.
In addition to that PS4 also suffers from a frame time issue, where frames are doubling up on themselves and not syncing up correctly. This means that even at 30FPS the game could feel like its experiencing judder – something which isn’t present on Xbox One.
Final Fantasy XV is still a good five or so months away from launch, and heavy optimisation usually takes place closer to the end of production. But Digital Foundry makes a compelling argument in that the Platinum Demo shows little improvement over the technical roadblocks that Duscae had – and that was well over a year ago. Whether they are able to iron them out before launch might be a step too much for Square Enix.
Last Updated: April 4, 2016
Umar
April 4, 2016 at 11:07
Yeah, it’s worrying, but I’ll wait and see. It’s interesting to note, this demo was made by a 2-man team, and according to the director, they didn’t really want to showcase the technical side of things (even though this game was essentially a tech demo). Everything is solid in my opinion, I’m just hoping they manage to iron out the performance issues before launch.
Hammersteyn
April 4, 2016 at 11:14
Downloaded the demo, still need to play it
Umar
April 4, 2016 at 11:15
It’s an odd experience, but the boss at the end is awesome.
Alien Emperor Trevor
April 4, 2016 at 11:08
Final Fantasy 15fps tee hee
Hammersteyn
April 4, 2016 at 11:15
XD winner!
iusedtobe(a)regular
April 4, 2016 at 11:10
Oh well, it will be up to Sony’s 1st party devs again to show these kids how its done just like in the days of the PS3, sort of a “separating the men from the boys” thing……………………again.
Admiral Chief in New York
April 4, 2016 at 11:22
“The PS4 can reach 1080p on some occasions”
Yes, the loading screen
Xonix
April 4, 2016 at 14:44
SAVAGE
Original Heretic
April 4, 2016 at 11:25
But does it play well? That’s the most important aspect for me. I don’t really care if it’s 1080p or 720p. If it runs well, I’m happy.
jonoil
April 4, 2016 at 12:58
Ditto.
oVg versus
April 4, 2016 at 13:22
I have resigned myself to accept that these super duper expensive Next gen consoles will always be the same as last gen. 30fps/1080p. Maybe the PS4.5 will hit 60fps 1080p like KONAMI were able to pull off with MGS Or like Senran Kagura Estival Versus 😛
Anyway, as I said, the console did not live up to its price tag.
Now that is out of the way. I have been playing more and more PS2 games like Rouge Galaxy and Bully. Nothing wrong, they are addictive videogames with PS2 graphics.
In other words…
BRIIIIIIIING IT, I DONT CARE IF IT HAS THE TRADE MARKED FF JAGGIES FROM HELL, 480P 20 FPS.
Im on this hype train baby. TOOOOT TOOOOT
P.S. Carbuncle looks so cooool.
chimera_85
April 4, 2016 at 15:30
Damn, will it be fine when released on PC? IF it does as well 😐
CypherGate
April 4, 2016 at 16:06
They will delay the game (To iron out all the issues), but will launch the game with the PS4.5 or the PS4K or whatever they will call it!
Acornbread
April 4, 2016 at 21:14
They’re not performance issues, they’re cinematic immersion design features. The frustration you experience is part of the emotional role playing experience. 😐
They should probably just scale back on the hair physics and the game will be fine.