A new technical review has revealed that Final Fantasy XVI may not necessarily be the performance showcase that PlayStation fans expect it to be.
As reported by Tech4Gamers, Digital Foundry has found that Square’s upcoming action RPG needs to drop the resolution to 720p to hit the 60FPS.
This is in performance mode, which usually renders gameplay between 1080p and 1440p. Of course, running cutscenes and showing you interact in the game world are not as intensive as combat scenarios, so it would be considerably easier for Square Enix to hit that goal.
Now, if you want to scrutinize Square Enix’s messaging, they claimed that combat would maintain 60FPS on performance mode, but didn’t make any mention of resolution switching. Subsequently, outside of combat, when Final Fantasy XVI does run between 108p and 1440p, it can dip down to 40FPS.
These performance metrics have nothing to do with Final Fantasy XVI’s narrative or game design. Of course, they do not tell the full story of the quality of the game.
However, they are relevant in discussion because of the higher expectations gamers have that the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S should be able to hit 4k 60FPS performance metrics. But is this a reasonable expectation?
If we look back at the PlayStation 5’s architecture itself, it may have a bespoke CPU from AMD, but that CPU utilizes Zen 2 architecture. That is the same architecture that the Steam Deck’s CPU has. As PC gamers may already know, Zen 2 is capable of running current generation games, but it is already woefully obsolete compared to Zen 4. It is also set to be outpaced even further when Zen 5 releases next year.
This isn’t to start arguments over PC vs console gaming, but to ground expectations properly. Zen 2 wasn’t some magical architecture that was going to stay a standard for years and years. When Sony planned for their upcoming console, they could only get CPUs that were so close to cutting edge, and now it’s been a few years since its launch.
Subsequently, Square Enix didn’t really have the most cutting edge technology to work with when they were building Final Fantasy XVI as a PlayStation 5 exclusive. If it’s possible that developers unlock 4k 60FPS on the PlayStation 5 in the future, they would need years more experience to find how to pull off that optimization.
Ultimately, Final Fantasy XVI can’t meet these expectations now, and it may never actually get there. You can take this as a sign that we can just set that aside and evaluate the game for the full package, the merits of the story it has to tell, the game design it brings, and the bold new direction Square Enix has taken for the RPG franchise.
Final Fantasy XVI will be released today, June 22, 2023, exclusively on the PlayStation 5.
