MULTI Final Fantasy XV Demo Previews/Impressions Thread - PS4 version is 900p, XBO version is sub-800p

[CerebralTiger]

However, from what I know the gameplay is just "hold Circle to continuously attack"

That's ravage, which is basically a repeated string of normal attacks. You can't really take down enemies with that alone unless you're way overpowered. You need to time a more powerful delayed attack (called Vanquish) during the string if you want to deal some serious damage. The battle system is heavily focused on evade-and-counter mechanics, so it may seem overly simple at first glance.

it seems there's no active dodge in this game, instead you just hold L1 and the guy dodges everything automatically at the expense of MP. is that correct?

You can perform an active dodge by pressing L1 + O.

As for the automatic dodge (I prefer to call it a sidestep, since that's what it looks like), simply holding L1 will drain your MP very quickly. The idea is to time it right in order to conserve your MP. Plus, if you time the sidestep well, you're rewarded with a powerful parry attack.

 

[CerebralTiger]

Digital Foundry tech-analysis

We peg the PlayStation 4 version at 1600x900 while the Xbox One version turns in an even lower 1408x792. Both versions show plenty of aliasing in select conditions but, on the whole, the game's more natural environments appear surprisingly clean with a strong depth of field effect helping to keep shimmering at bay. Edge-smoothing is rather inconsistent, however, with certain elements lacking any sort of anti-aliasing coverage at all. There's no doubt that the game will benefit greatly from a bump up to full 1080p.

On PlayStation 4, the game turns in a playable, if somewhat unstable level of performance hovering mostly around 30fps with extended drops to 25-28fps during most combat scenarios. We also noticed plenty of minor hitches and skips that appear as spikes on the frame-time graph leading to a drop in fluidity.

However, Xbox One turns in a more concerning level of performance. This version already operates at a lower resolution as it is but despite that, the frame-rate falls pretty far below the PS4 version. On average we're looking at a 5fps deficit in comparison, with precious few scenes ever reaching 30fps. The game immediately feels slower and less refined on Microsoft's platform leaving some of the scenarios feeling downright unplayable. Add in minor screen-tearing that rears its head across the top of the screen and you're looking at a rather poor experience. As it stands, this particular demo produces perhaps the lowest level of performance we've seen in an Xbox One game to date.

The list of technical features on display here is also quite lengthy, checking off all of the tick boxes you'd expect in a next-generation engine and then some. The game makes full use of physically-based rendering with an excellent materials system alongside a robust global illumination solution enabling realistic lighting conditions and a dynamic day/night cycle. The time of day cycling is truly above and beyond anything we've seen before in real-time and allows for some incredibly lush vistas. This is enhanced further by the inclusion of a full cloud simulation and an artistically lovely use of high dynamic range lighting. Taken as a whole, the results stand as some of the most impressive we've seen in an open world experience.

Foliage stretches out just far enough to eliminate the sense of empty terrain geometry and a smooth LOD system keeps annoying objects pop-in at bay. All of these elements are influenced by an adjustable wind simulation that allows the developers to attach variable gusts of wind to objects and events, resulting in grass, trees, and clothing all blowing around very realistically. Cloth simulation is particularly impressive here and used in abundance with the characters' clothing standing out as the most impressive example. Even the hair receives plenty of attention with its complex mesh bobbing around realistically on all four main characters as they run across the landscape.

The character models as a whole are certainly a highlight as well. Square-Enix claims that models peak at 100,000 triangles including LOD with upwards of 20,000 dedicated specifically to the characters hair style. Character models are built around 600 individual bones, 10-12 times greater than their last-generation efforts, allowing for more complex motion on the whole. This is topped off by subsurface scattering, used to great effect in combination with the realistic clothing materials on display. Looking past the game's somewhat rough image quality, one can really start to see something here which resembles pre-rendered CG.

However, what really brings these characters to life, is the remarkably complex animation system. There is just a tremendous amount of animation in this game and, from what we've gathered, it appears to use some sort of animation AI routine. This helps control how characters move and react to their surroundings by focusing their attention on the expected points of interest. The way characters transition in and out of various actions feels quite natural and the three party members by your side always feel grounded within the environment.

Other details of note - a GPU-accelerated particle system is in play here, producing results not unlike last year's inFamous Second Son. When triggered in the massive summoning of Ramuh, the screen fills with a remarkable fireworks display of particles that leaves your jaw hanging open.

Tech Analysis: Final Fantasy 15 Episode Duscae • Eurogamer.net


@Journeys End whatever you do, don't play this demo on the Xbox One

The time of day cycling is truly above and beyond anything we've seen before in real-time and allows for some incredibly lush vistas.

@USUF but but, Destinyyyy!

 

[BumperJumper]

@USUF but but, Destinyyyy!

The day-night cycle is godly indeed.

GIF

Video

http://www.ytpak.com/?component=video&task=view&id=ajYgXFDIhOA

 

[USUF]

May be the Destiny and FF articles are written by 2 different people who don't know each game exists but, even to the non-fanboy, the video posted by [MENTION=24078]DarkLordMalik[/MENTION] and the following one are worlds apart.

Destiny PS4 Alpha Code Time-Lapse: World in Motion

Even you can't deny that [MENTION=218]CerebralTiger[/MENTION]

 

[CerebralTiger]

Destiny PS4 Alpha Code Time-Lapse: World in Motion

Even you can't deny that @CerebralTiger

In the Destiny time-lapse video, notice how the clouds barely change formation and appearance as they traverse the sky. From an artistic perspective, it's great to look at a sky that's always filled with dense clouds, but it's not realistic. On the other hand, notice FFXV's cloud simulation, which is more dynamic and lifelike. It also helps that the lighting model in FFXV is superior, thanks to PBR.

 

[USUF]

In the Destiny time-lapse video, notice how the clouds barely change formation and appearance as they traverse the sky. From an artistic perspective, it's great to look at a sky that's always filled with dense clouds, but it's not realistic. On the other hand, notice FFXV's cloud simulation, which is more dynamic and lifelike. It also helps that the lighting model in FFXV is superior, thanks to PBR.

Oh you gotta be kidding. Notice how FF's skybox has almost nothing going on expect clouds. Whereas in Destiny's the entire sky lights up when it's dark. A beautiful aurora borealis becomes visible on Earth and a huge part of the milky way is gloriously stretched over the surface of the moon. And this is all reacting to the sun's movement and changes saturation, hue and intensity. And this is just the skybox we're talking about.

We're not even discussing the A.I count, pixel count and number of players the game can handle amidst all the nova bombs, titan smashes and golden guns.

 

[CerebralTiger]

Oh you gotta be kidding. Notice how FF's skybox has almost nothing going on expect clouds. Whereas in Destiny's the entire sky lights up when it's dark. A beautiful aurora borealis becomes visible on Earth and a huge part of the milky way is gloriously stretched over the surface of the moon. And this is all reacting to the sun's movement and changes saturation, hue and intensity. And this is just the skybox we're talking about.

The skybox is merely a static piece of art with certain animate elements. It's great from an artistic perspective, but it's not as brilliant from a technical perspective.

FFXV is simulating clouds in real-time. And, as I mentioned earlier, the use of PBR adds a degree of photo-realism to the lighting.

You could argue that the time of day cycling in Destiny is more artistic and appealing, but on a technical level the comparison clearly favors FFXV.

We're not even discussing the A.I count, pixel count and number of players the game can handle amidst all the nova bombs, titan smashes and golden guns.

Oh let's not go there lol. You'd be comparing an open-ended but very much contained game (Destiny) to a vast open world game that is sprawling with A.I. characters at every corner.

And lol @ titan smashes. Someone please show USUF a video of the summon from FFXV.

 

[USUF]

The skybox is merely a static piece of art with certain animate elements.

eehhh

I know it's been a while since you played it but damn. Talk about being completely forgetful. If the underlying argument regarding Destiny and FF's skyboxes is this for you, then I'm afraid no amount of arguments will convince you otherwise. The level of 'wrong' in this statement is like someone saying Gears and Mario are the same games.

The Earth's globe, visible from the surface of the moon rotates and lights up around all corners, even eclipses, as the sun moves around and behind it. The torn International Space Station's debris reacts to the sun's angle. The dynamics of Earth's skybox is already explained above. There's a giant astroid orbiting the sky of Mars which also keeps spinning and reacts to the sun's light.

I mean this is just ridiculous that there's only 'certain' elements in Destiny's art that move. My God.

I guess I'm done here lol this is unbelievable. I get that FF's pretty great. It's got larger open-ended instances than Destiny. It's still in development and all. But lol.

You could argue that the time of day cycling in Destiny is more artistic and appealing, but on a technical level the comparison clearly favors FFXV.

Wrong.

This gives off a vibe that "Art" and "Photo realism" are mutually exclusive. Destiny's art is deliberately pushing the feel of "fantasy" - A notion that is well documented whenever it's been questioned. FF may be pushing for photorealism, but does that automatically grant it the title of pushing the envelope more? I certainly don't think so. And with the amount of stuff going on in one instance in Destiny, the argument can be had. But there's absolutely no way FF is blowing it out of the water. Saying this is absurd.

And lol @ titan smashes. Someone please show USUF a video of the summon from FFXV.

I guess you missed the point I was trying to make. The point was, Destiny can handle thousands of particles, tens of A.Is and multiple REAL people dropping in and out without breaking down or ever dropping even a single frame. And yes, I have seen the video in question.

Am I saying that video is trash? Absolutely not. I'm not even holding FF's poor performance against it, or using it as an argument as its still underdevelopment. Am I saying that you're grossly underestimating Destiny here? Yes.

 

[BumperJumper]

May be the Destiny and FF articles are written by 2 different people who don't know each game exists but, even to the non-fanboy, the video posted by @DarkLordMalik and the following one are worlds apart.

Destiny PS4 Alpha Code Time-Lapse: World in Motion

Even you can't deny that @CerebralTiger

Dude, the article is written by the same person. No idea why you are trying to point out otherwise.

There you go for the Destiny time lapse. Check the author.
Destiny time-lapse: world in motion • Eurogamer.net

Secondly, not trying to tone down the beauty of Destiny's time lapse or anything but what you are seeing here is mostly mostly smoke and mirrors. A tech that can easily work on previous generation consoles. The tech is entirely different in FFXV. The one in the demo is still unfinished. The final game will have a much more advanced form of this dynamic day and night cycle with weather + lighting solutions.

This GIF below is from summoning Ramuh and notice how the atmosphere around the world changes once we summon him. All of this is fully real-time.

This other GIF shows time lapse in a city.

You can also see this tech video which details their time lapse in motion with weather system.
http://www.ytpak.com/?component=video&task=view&id=_ajDPjrvBaA&retry=1

Check at around 1:10 mark.

GIF

http://gfycat.com/ObeseCloseFanworms

Read all this and then "Remember" that the same author who made the Destiny Time Lapse described the one in FF XV as

The time of day cycling is truly above and beyond anything we've seen before in real-time and allows for some incredibly lush vistas.

 

[USUF]

Secondly, not trying to tone down the beauty of Destiny's time lapse or anything but what you are seeing here is mostly mostly smoke and mirrors.

It's like what I said earlier. I can't come up with anything, even after the videographic proof, to convince anyone other wise.

FF's a fantastic looking game and one I'd be more than willing to try on my Xbox when it comes out (in a good deal, or if I get a massive pay raise lol). But stuff like this, and the fact that the DF author for both game's technical analysis is the same, is quite disappointing. And sadly I'm going to leave it at that.

 

[BumperJumper]

It's like what I said earlier. I can't come up with anything, even after the videographic proof, to convince anyone other wise.

FF's a fantastic looking game and one I'd be more than willing to try on my Xbox when it comes out (in a good deal, or if I get a massive pay raise lol). But stuff like this, and the fact that the DF author for both game's technical analysis is the same, is quite disappointing. And sadly I'm going to leave it at that.

Just to be clear over something. I am not trying to say that the time lapse in Destiny looks bad. It looks spectacular. I am just pointing out how those who played the demo (and have also played Destiny BTW) were truly wowed by what we saw in the demo. Me and CT agree that this is better than what was seen in Destiny, the article writer (same person) also states the same (no mention of Destiny though).

It absolutely doesn't have anything negative to say for Destiny, considering the feat Bungie accomplished by running it on prev + current gen. Now it is another story if you don't find this particular time of day cycle impressive. But this also understandable as this is something that can't be seen by viewing a video (made by a GAF member and not DF), and you need to actually play the game and see it all in real-time.

 

[Journeys End]

@Journeys End whatever you do, don't play this demo on the Xbox One

the path its following, i think ill not play the game at all.

in case it turns half decent, there is always the PC ver

 

[Arkonov]

the path its following, i think ill not play the game at all.

in case it turns half decent, there is always the PC ver

There's a PC version?

 

[CerebralTiger]

The Earth's globe, visible from the surface of the moon rotates and lights up around all corners, even eclipses, as the sun moves around and behind it. The torn International Space Station's debris reacts to the sun's angle. The dynamics of Earth's skybox is already explained above. There's a giant astroid orbiting the sky of Mars which also keeps spinning and reacts to the sun's light.

I mean this is just ridiculous that there's only 'certain' elements in Destiny's art that move. My God.

By certain elements, I mean that the clouds themselves aren't really altering formation or appearance as they traverse the sky. They're mostly static objects with very little changing in the composition of the atmosphere itself. Observe the time lapse video you posted carefully to see what I mean.

FF may be pushing for photorealism, but does that automatically grant it the title of pushing the envelope more?

On a technical level, yes it does. For starters, it's simulating the clouds in real-time. Secondly, the lighting model is superior. How do these things not make it better on a technical level? I'm not claiming that it's artistically the better approach.

The point was, Destiny can handle thousands of particles, tens of A.Is and multiple REAL people dropping in and out without breaking down or ever dropping even a single frame.

What I'm trying to say is that FFXV can also handle thousands of particles and tens of AI characters in an instance.

in case it turns half decent, there is always the PC ver

No PC version has been announced thus far. But, you know, don't stop believin', hold on to that feelin'

Dude, the article is written by the same person. No idea why you are trying to point out otherwise.

There you go for the Destiny time lapse. Check the author.
Destiny time-lapse: world in motion • Eurogamer.net

Whelp, I guess that's that, right @USUF?

 

[Gizmo]

FF XIII came to the PC, why can't XV?

 

[CerebralTiger]

FF XIII came to the PC, why can't XV?

Sure it did. 5 years later.

But yeah, it is easier to port games from the PS4/XB1, so I guess it could happen sooner. Entirely depends on SE.

 

[BumperJumper]

FF XIII came to the PC, why can't XV?

The only reason FF XIIII made its way to PC was because SE ported the game in-house for their Smartphone streaming service in Japan, which launched with FF XIII as the first game, which was being run on a PC.

FF XV will make its way to PC, of course. But after how many years?

 

[BumperJumper]

I easily managed to beat Behemoth at Level 35 and it took me close to 16 mins. It can take much shorter honestly as majority of my time was spent running around and regenerating MP.

Posing next to my big hunt.

Gotta love how they animated his dead body with the tongue hanging out.

 

[Gizmo]

LOL, So How do you get and activate the summon? I saw a video of them summoning Ramuh and that as pretty cool. Is that the only summon in the demo?

 

[BumperJumper]

LOL, So How do you get and activate the summon? I saw a video of them summoning Ramuh and that as pretty cool. Is that the only summon in the demo?

Do you expect them to include more Summons in a demo? lol.

Currently we can only summon Ramuh once our health is in critical stage and to do so, we press and hold the X button and seem the world around us transform and change, which is pretty epic feeling TBH. The best part is that we can summon Ramuh at any part of the world map (except inside the cave) and if you saw the video, we get an aerial view of the field along with epic particle effects especially at night.

I am sure the final game will have a much more different summon feature and judging from the ending of the demo, we can see that Shiva, Ramuh, Titan, Leviathan and possibly Siren and Bahamut might be a summon for the final version of the game.