Plus: did Square-Enix really fix performance mode’s image quality issues?
The originalFinal Fantasy 7pushed technical boundaries on the PS1 and set new standards for storytelling within gaming.
How have graphical boundaries been pushed on PS5?
Have the demo’s image quality issues been resolved?
And can the game hold a stable frame-rate, even with its open-world scope?
Digital Foundry coverage today is more of a preview than the typical in-depth coverage we’d like to deliver.
With all of this in mind, expect much more comprehensive coverage on the day of launch.
Firstly, the asset quality is very inconsistent in the opening level.
Some of the rocks are also very angular and low-poly.
It’s inconsistent and a little strange, not quite up to the level of quality we’d expect.
Environmental lighting is also a bit hit or miss.
It’s a very strange choice.
That’s not to take away from where the game excels.
The real-time cutscenes look beautiful, as they did in Remake.
These scenes are always lit very evocatively and feature creamy bokeh depth of field.
Battle sequences are impressive as well.
Fights are a confluence of acrobatics and particle effects, punctuated by show-stopping special abilities and breathtaking synergy attacks.
The combat mechanics are fairly basic but provide just enough tactical depth to justify the pyrotechnics on display.
Assets are generally acceptably high-res, without the texture inconsistencies we observed before.
Lighting quality sees a bump too, with finer grades of precalculated shade in shadowed regions.
On the whole, it’s a huge upgrade from Nibelheim, which looked almost generationally worse.
People who have played the demo might be familiar with the problem.
As of the February 21st patch, this issue has been addressed - with mixed results.
You get extra image sharpness, but you also get visible pixelation all across the image.
Image quality comparisons between the two modes are a little more interesting than usual.
The graphics mode has extra image detail and none of the distracting pixelation present in the performance mode.
Frame-rates are good across both modes at least.
Open-world traversal and combat generally sailed by at a straight 30.
Most of the time it’s right at 60fps however.
At a minimum, I would like to see an option to toggle between the scaling modes.
So that’s the top-line overview of what we can share about Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth so far.
