Final Fantasy XVI reaches 720p resolution on PlayStation 5

Final Fantasy XVI
Image: Reproduction/Square Enix

John Linneman of Digital Foundry published a voluminous technical analysis of Final Fantasy XVI. In most of the review, the editor praises the game for its art style, cutscenes, characters and particle effects. However, he says it wasn't without its flaws

For example, the internal rendering resolution can be reduced to very low values. In quality mode, upscaling ranges from 1440p to 1080p. While in performance mode, it drops to 720p. What's more, the situation is aggravated by the decision to use the AMD FSR from the first version instead of the much better FSR 2. And that's why upscaling is accompanied by noticeable artifacts and blurring.

In addition, in Performance Mode, the quality of shadows is significantly degraded compared to Quality Mode and a pop-in effect is added (objects are loaded close to the player as they approach them). Even so, Performance Mode does not deliver a stable 60 FPS and is consistently below the target threshold.

However, during battles, the game reaches 60 FPS, but it's at these points that the resolution drops to a minimum. A DF recommends playing in quality mode at the moment, as the image quality is much higher and the frame rate is kept at 30 FPS.

The analysis of Digital Foundry also mentions that indoor or dimly lit scenes use "baked" lighting, while brighter open areas look an order of magnitude worse, making it seem almost like a cross-genre title.

Final Fantasy XVI is now available for PlayStation 5.

Founder of Save State / Editor-in-Chief of Nerds of the Galaxy / Writer for Critical Hits and Trecobox. Studying for a BA in Journalism. Lover of Open World, Assassin's Creed, FIFA and more,
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