After 13 years, have gameplay visuals exceeded FMV quality?
Just how close is FF16 and can its visual qualities and techniques exceed the CGI movies of its predecessor?
The characters in Final Fantasy 13 were lavishly rendered in CGI form.
The key deficit in 16 comes down to physics.
Games are limited to much cruder movement, and it shows.
Hair is a particular sore spot for 16, as the card-based locks are surprisingly static.
Shadows, though, are a bit less convincing.
Shadows often look too sharp, especially outdoors.
Grass is a particular eyesore, casting bold dark shadows that seem inappropriate for semi-transparent objects.
Its shadow rendering, however, is comprehensively better than the solutions used in FF13.
We get very detailed shadows with realistic variable penumbra, and they look appropriate regardless of circumstance.
Environmental rendering is a bit of a mixed bag across FF13’s CGI cinematics.
Some of the more constrained spaces particularly impress, with a satisfying density of foliage and geometric clutter.
FF13 fares much better with perspective-correct, though uniformly sharp, reflections coverage.
In some scenes, the virtual camera even racks focus smoothly as the focal point shifts.
FF13’s CGI sequences feature the same effects, with broadly similar impact.
Image quality throws a bit of a curveball when evaluating the two titles.
We’re looking at a dynamic 1440p presentation paired off against 720p CGI, after all.
Lastly, let’s take a bit of a detour from visual features and discuss content for a moment.
This usually included the games' lavish, beautifully choreographed action scenes.
These death-defying combat manoeuvres were showcased in cool cinematics that really stood out at the time.
FF16 does have similar in-engine cinematic combat showcases, though they are fewer in number and relatively brief.
They’re definitely reminiscent of earlier CGI efforts, but aren’t quite up to the same bar.
When I first played Final Fantasy 13, the CGI cutscenes absolutely blew me away.
Exactly how long would we have to wait to see similar visuals in real-time?
Final Fantasy 16 isn’t quite at that level, but it comes surprisingly close.
We’re seeing a fairly similar style realised with broadly similar visuals.
There are a few caveats to this analysis that I wanted to mention.
FF16 is a big game and expectedly, there are some areas where the visual presentation falls flat.
Key sequences have much better production values, and I’ve focused more on those today.
Conversely, FF13’s CGI isn’t all at the same quality level either.
Some shots do make use of paintings and game engine footage, mixed in with all the 3D CGI.
