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I played FFXV, H:ZD EGX 2016, my thoughts on them.

L

Loudninja

Member
Tesser said:
Think I'll throw my own impressions on Horizon in here too given, like OP, I was (and still am) at EGX as well. Important to note this is coming from a guy who was going into this with doubt/skepticism and not really a fan of the Killzone series. I'll try and keep it brief, but pro's and con's as follows.

PROs
  • There's no tutorialspeak and/or blatant telling the player what to do in-game, thank God. I know the devs promised they wouldn't, but I refused to accept their word until I saw it for myself. And I'm pleased to see Aloy stays silent for MOST of the time. Still makes ocassional "oh no, I'm out of arrows"/"oh no, they spotted me" comments even though you can clearly see it on-screen, but it's not on the level of "I should probably scan these enemies/I should properly craft this item/I should probably find a mount". Still, complete silence aside from cutscenes would be nice.
  • The World does indeed look good. We only played in a brief and fairly small area (imagine that middle-part of the E3 demo they showed) but the variety in flora, structure and all-round level design is neat. I'll save comment until I see the entirety of the game World, but it's good to see Guerilla treating it with a decent amount of respect.
  • Combat is layered and tactical, which I like. People who decide to just spam the fire button will die fairly easily; enemies do indeed have strengths/weaknesses and, like the ShellWalkers, have to be attacked at different points and regions that aren't indicated by the yellow-glowing spots. Figuring out which weapons works will make a difference between causing 2 damage and 62 damage. And yes, numbers do fly out of the enemies on contact, but thankfully not The Division levels of number-spewing.
  • Lighting, even on the standard PS4 model, looks really nice - especially with the way it reflects off water and comes through tree branches and the like. Colour tone at points is nice and varied and I hope this continues with differing environments and environmental conditions.
  • Generally speaking, I really like the way you have to actually plan your moves when, for example, hacking/mounting a robot and making your way out of Watcher presence. There's something nice about readying yourself, striking with the RopeCaster and then just sprinting forward to get the job done. Nice shake-up of pace and tension.

CONs
  • There was some ocassional frame-rate drops at points and moments of half-second stuttering. Nothing major but definitely noticeable.
  • Dismounting near trees can cause you to clip into them. Some of the movement, especially on the more sloped and angled of grounds can cause some odd creature animation too.
  • The item/weapon wheel can be frustrating to control and doesn't automatically snap to certain objects meaning you sometimes have to wrestle with the stick to get it to point to a desired item.
  • Though some enemies will constantly move and attack/defend/counter-attack you, Watchers for example at points will just stay static and invite critical shots to be fired.

Overall though, I liked what I saw/played. Not going to boast "OMG, BEST GAME EVAH YOU HAVE TO PLAY THIS!!1!shift1!" but I do want to play more of it, put it that way.
Click to expand...
Nice the combat really does sound amazing.
 
V

Venom Fox

Banned
The Last One said:
How good was the performance in FF XV?
Click to expand...
I encountered 2 frame drops but they were so brief it isn't really worth mentioning. Other than that the game was smooth, even during combat. I was dreading it when I was fighting and everything was going down but it held up really good. There was a few stutters though and it seemed to be when the level was loading in fully after a cutscene has ended. So this also wasn't really a problem as it didn't last long. Yeah I was pretty impressed with the performance tbh.
 
B

Blackleg-sanji1

Banned
Venom Fox said:
I encountered 2 frame drops but they were so brief it isn't really worth mentioning. Other than that the game was smooth, even during combat. I was dreading it when I was fighting and everything was going down but it held up really good. There was a few stutters though and it seemed to be when the level was loading in fully after a cutscene has ended. So this also wasn't really a problem as it didn't last long. Yeah I was pretty impressed with the performance tbh.
Click to expand...
Praise be to Tabata and co!!
 
T

The Last One

Member
Venom Fox said:
I encountered 2 frame drops but they were so brief it isn't really worth mentioning. Other than that the game was smooth, even during combat. I was dreading it when I was fighting and everything was going down but it held up really good. There was a few stutters though and it seemed to be when the level was loading in fully after a cutscene has ended. So this also wasn't really a problem as it didn't last long. Yeah I was pretty impressed with the performance tbh.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your impressions. I'm glad that the optimization phase seens to be going well.
 
T

Tyaren

Member
Venom Fox said:
The guy next to me also had the PS4 version and that version was so much cleaner IQ wise, less ailiasing, better LOD systems, more foliage etc. I mean the Xbox One version did look good. It's definitely a next gen game but the PS4 version just trumps it.
Click to expand...

That is so strange... Usually multi platform titles look/perform basically the same on PS4 and Xbox One, just that the Xbox One goes for a lower resolution, like 900p. But the resolution of FFXV on Xbox (750-900p) is already lower than the PS version (900p-1080p), why is there additionally such a big gap in graphics, such as LOD and foliage?
Are there less people working on the Xbox version, is it a different team or have they outsourced it?
It's so disappointing that the Xbox One version looks so rough. :( I just showed this video to a friend and told him he doesn't have to worry, the Xbox One version (which he is getting) would have improved considerably:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxPeVWxT6d8

It is also the EGX build.
 
S

Servbot24

Banned
Sounds great. Only thing in FFXV I am worried about is the story. I like the set up that we know about, but a matter of how good the game progression is.
 
V

Venom Fox

Banned
Tyaren said:
That is so strange... Usually multi platform titles look/perform basically the same on PS4 and Xbox One, just that the Xbox One goes for a lower resolution like 900p. But the resolution of FFXV on Xbox (750-900p) is already lower than the PS version (900p-1080p), why is there additionally such a big gap in graphics, such as LOD and foliage.
Are there less people working on the Xbox version, is it a different team or have they outsourced it?

It's so disappointing the Xbox One version looks so rough. :( I just showed this video to a friend and told him he doesn't have to worry, the Xbox One version has improved considerably:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxPeVWxT6d8

It is also the EGX version.
Click to expand...
Yep, they were playing on a booth Xbone, it's the same ones the FFXV booths were using with the Devs serial sticker still on. This video (I watched it before) doesn't really bring out the problems like playing it first hand. Kind of like my pics on the last page. Like I said, the game is graphically good but there are glaring problems that as far as we know are being addressed. Didn't Tabata say the graphics problems were due to bugs?

Anyway my pic or this video hide the problems funnily enough, everyone who's played it first hand will tell you how bad the issues are. I'm confident it'll be sorted though and if they don't then oh well, the game runs fantastic and we will just have to deal with it. It's weird. You have to actually be stood Infront of the TV to see the problems. It's the reverse of the usual low YouTube IQ argument lmao.
 
T

Tyaren

Member
Venom Fox said:
Yep, they were playing on a booth Xbone, it's the same ones the FFXV booths were using with the Devs serial sticker still on. This video (I watched it before) doesn't really bring out the problems like playing it first hand. Kind of like my pics on the last page. Like I said, the game is graphically good but there are glaring problems that as far as we know are being addressed. Didn't Tabata say the graphics problems were due to bugs?

Anyway my pic or this video hide the problems funnily enough, everyone who's played it first hand will tell you how bad the issues are. I'm confident it'll be sorted though and if they don't then oh well, the game runs fantastic and we will just have to deal with it. It's weird. You have to actually be stood Infront of the TV to see the problems. It's the reverse of the usual low YouTube IQ argument lmao.
Click to expand...

Yeah, let's hope the best. They still have some time for improvements. Apart from the graphical issues the game sounds pretty awesome luckily.Thanks for your detailed impressions! :)
 
M

MaverickHunterAsh

Member
Already hyped as hell for FF XV, but it's nice to see others walking away with the same positive impressions I've had of the game. Shame that the Xbox One version is looking so much rougher than the PS4 version, but that's to be expected. I'll be playing it on PS4, at least. So, so, so excited for November.

(And for Horizon in February!)
 
I

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
Tyaren said:
That is so strange... Usually multi platform titles look/perform basically the same on PS4 and Xbox One, just that the Xbox One goes for a lower resolution, like 900p. But the resolution of FFXV on Xbox (750-900p) is already lower than the PS version (900p-1080p), why is there additionally such a big gap in graphics, such as LOD and foliage?
Are there less people working on the Xbox version, is it a different team or have they outsourced it?
It's so disappointing that the Xbox One version looks so rough. :( I just showed this video to a friend and told him he doesn't have to worry, the Xbox One version (which he is getting) would have improved considerably:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxPeVWxT6d8

It is also the EGX build.
Click to expand...

FF13 also had a big gap between 360 and PS3. Seems par the course for SE
 
Bigrx1

Bigrx1

Banned
Pretty excited for Horizon - still pretty meh for FF but then again I'm more of an old school FF fan so no surprise there really.
 
R

Rappy

Member
Inuhanyou said:
FF13 also had a big gap between 360 and PS3. Seems par the course for SE
Click to expand...
I don't remember it being a big gap, visually at least. Performance wise on the other hand. Maybe I'm just remembering it wrong.

Also, they keep on saying these versions are the "master version" that was supposed to be released next week. Doesn't this mean it is without the day 1 patch they possibly had? Seeing as the reason for the delay is that they didn't just want to have a huge day 1 patch. Haven't they showed the master version of PS4 and it was also pretty similar to the X1 version (or am I also remembering that wrong)? Is there ever any clarification on this? Of course, that still doesn't explain if they have a newer build running on X1 yet.
 
F

Faustek

Member
Sounds good.

The Last One said:
It seens we will have another FF XIII situation in the DF thread but this time with FF XV.
Click to expand...

6 seconds faster load? 🙃


Tesser said:
Overall though, I liked what I saw/played. Not going to boast "OMG, BEST GAME EVAH YOU HAVE TO PLAY THIS!!1!shift1!" but I do want to play more of it, put it that way.
Click to expand...


Everything sounded good and this is the best part. Interest still holds.
 
K

KZXcellent

Member
archseraph said:
I don't remember it being a big gap, visually at least. Performance wise on the other hand. Maybe I'm just remembering it wrong.

Also, they keep on saying these versions are the "master version" that was supposed to be released next week. Doesn't this mean it is without the day 1 patch they possibly had? Seeing as the reason for the delay is that they didn't just want to have a huge day 1 patch. Haven't they showed the master version of PS4 and it was also pretty similar to the X1 version (or am I also remembering that wrong)? Is there ever any clarification on this? Of course, that still doesn't explain if they have a newer build running on X1 yet.
Click to expand...

Yes. The Day 1 patched they planned is being rolled into the game for the November release. Visuals/Performance will most likely improve past that as well since they'll have time to make a patch in time for release. Of course this is just taking the term "Master Version" at face value so it may be an updated version. With Square-Enix it's hard to know until it's super-close to release.
 
I

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
archseraph said:
I don't remember it being a big gap, visually at least. Performance wise on the other hand. Maybe I'm just remembering it wrong.
.
Click to expand...

FF13 ran at 1000x500 something(which cause huge problems with the dithering of the hair) while PS3 ran at native 720p(with the UI natively rendering at 1080p). FF13 360 also had some FPS issues(minor though) and the FMV cutscenes(which were like 90% of the game) were all crushed and macroblocked to hell, which completely destroyed the presentation of the game. No excuse considering they had 3 disks to work with, even without bluray.
 
H

HerroRygar

Member
Glad to hear that FFXV feels so good. I'd be a lot more worried about it feeling and playing badly at this stage than having graphical problems. Also, selfishly, I don't care that it looks kinda poor on XBO because I'm going to be playing it on a PS4 Pro, where I'm sure it will look fantastic.

So I've accepted that it likely doesn't control as fluidly as a AAA, combat-driven action game like Devil May Cry or something. Is that the case? Can you give any comparisons as to what it feels like?
 
I

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
HerroRygar said:
Glad to hear that FFXV feels so good. I'd be a lot more worried about it feeling and playing badly at this stage than having graphical problems. Also, selfishly, I don't care that it looks kinda poor on XBO because I'm going to be playing it on a PS4 Pro, where I'm sure it will look fantastic.

So I've accepted that it likely doesn't control as fluidly as a AAA, combat-driven action game like Devil May Cry or something. Is that the case? Can you give any comparisons as to what it feels like?
Click to expand...

Its not KH, its not DMC where its more like a straight stylish action game. Its slower definitely, but its still fluid to the point where it feels like your in control of your movements and such.

I don't really think there's much to compare it to generally, there is also a wait mode that kind of gives a similar feeling to other FF's turn based combat, where you can plan certain strategies by stopping the battle mid action.
 
R

Rappy

Member
Inuhanyou said:
FF13 ran at 1000x500 something(which cause huge problems with the dithering of the hair) while PS3 ran at native 720p(with the UI natively rendering at 1080p). FF13 360 also had some FPS issues(minor though) and the FMV cutscenes(which were like 90% of the game) were all crushed and macroblocked to hell, which completely destroyed the presentation of the game. No excuse considering they had 3 disks to work with, even without bluray.
Click to expand...
1024x576 vs 1280x720 doesn't seem that big of a difference to me at resolutions that low and looking at comparison vids/screens. It's at least not as big a gap as this master version vs the latest builds we've seen, as XIII's problems were mostly resolution related. The FMV compression I do remember now. But 3 discs is absolutely the excuse and a valid one. 360 was 18.3GB vs PS3's 39.4GB. That had to go somewhere unless they wanted a total of 6 discs (which I would have been fine with).
 
P

paragonpro

Banned
i hope the pro version fairs significantly better than these two so far. Ive found that in recent years the performance across both systems has been pretty even for multiplats, weird that this is so unoptomized.
 
D

DangerMouse

Member
paragonpro said:
i hope the pro version fairs significantly better than these two so far. Ive found that in recent years the performance across both systems has been pretty even for multiplats, weird that this is so unoptomized.
Click to expand...

I expect the PS4 one will end up quite good since they know they have to give the Japanese fans a good experience on the PS4 Slim, probably one of the reasons for the last delay.

I think that the couple of shots of the Pro version on a few sites looked and sound quite promising.

http://www.siliconera.com/2016/09/16/early-impressions-final-fantasy-xv-playstation-4-pro/
 
adamsapple

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Those FFXV impressions make me wanna play the Pro version right now .. man the game play sounds good.
 
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