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Final Fantasy 15 Dungeon and Wildlife videos.

I wonder if they'll ever get that into a Final Fantasy.

I enjoy customization. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Well the online games do it, but yeah it seems kinda strange that with all this technology, they don't have visible armour and clothing customisation yet, something nearly every other RPG does. I guess it's an aesthetic/story choice. FFXII feels like it would've really benefitted from this.
 
It is kind of insane that the translation/dub is so bad considering the $$ they've invested in this game, and how much the dub actually matters. Everything post-FF6 was translated in-house right? I don't remember the lines in FF7/8/9 being quite so bad, although maybe that's just because they weren't spoken? The translation/dub here does seem to approximately be FFX quality (bad).

Edit: I forgot to say it looks fantastic. Please have Japanese dub with English subs so I can not understand the quality of the voice acting.
 

valkyre

Member
I wonder if they'll ever get that into a Final Fantasy.

I enjoy customization. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I had this issue with FF for years.... it is very lame that your lvl1 character looks the exact same when he has reached lvl99...

The online FF games indeed have customization, but I seriously dont understand what the issue is with the offline FF games...

I can appreciate a great design, but if you force it down my throat for 100+ hours it gets really old and boring...
 

Geg

Member
It is kind of insane that the translation/dub is so bad considering the $$ they've invested in this game, and how much the dub actually matters. Everything post-FF6 was translated in-house right? I don't remember the lines in FF7/8/9 being quite so bad, although maybe that's just because they weren't spoken? The translation/dub here does seem to approximately be FFX quality (bad).

Edit: I forgot to say it looks fantastic. Please have Japanese dub with English subs so I can not understand the quality of the voice acting.

Hopefully they didn't put much effort into the localization because it's just a demo and the full game will get proper treatment. Hopefully.
 

Falk

that puzzling face
ps4 version might be 900p right now, xbone is 720p

If you're going off the HQ Step into the Shadows trailer, pixel counting -still- suggests 1080p

mLvbco8.png


codec lossiness aside, the 1-pixel black border above and below the horizontal portions of the white health bars basically states that the footage is 1080p native and not being upscaled. (There is no way an upscale will ever result in a neat 1-pixel element such as those)

edit: Playing devil's advocate, those UI elements -could- have been doctored separately. They're all full HP, yet Noctis has 600 vs even Prompto's 800+ and Gladiolus isn't the highest? Of course at this point that sounds like way more effort than it's worth and a more likely explanation is the party's levels were individually being messed with for testing, when the footage was recorded.
 
codec lossiness aside, the 1-pixel black border above and below the horizontal portions of the white health bars basically states that the footage is 1080p native and not being upscaled. (There is no way an upscale will ever result in a neat 1-pixel element such as those)

Sorry, I don't really know if this is possible on PS4, but couldn't the HUD be a different resolution from the rest of the game rendering (es. HUD 1080p gameworld 900p) ?
 

Falk

that puzzling face
Sorry, I don't really know if this is possible on PS4, but couldn't the HUD be a different resolution from the rest of the game rendering (es. HUD 1080p gameworld 900p) ?

That sounds like a really bad use of resources, but regardless, I pixel counted another element (wires by the roadside) from the same build in an older thread. That was also 1080p.

Granted things could change from then/now to when the demo actually drops.
 
If you're going off the HQ Step into the Shadows trailer, pixel counting -still- suggests 1080p

mLvbco8.png


codec lossiness aside, the 1-pixel black border above and below the horizontal portions of the white health bars basically states that the footage is 1080p native and not being upscaled. (There is no way an upscale will ever result in a neat 1-pixel element such as those)

edit: Playing devil's advocate, those UI elements -could- have been doctored separately. They're all full HP, yet Noctis has 600 vs even Prompto's 800+ and Gladiolus isn't the highest? Of course at this point that sounds like way more effort than it's worth and a more likely explanation is the party's levels were individually being messed with for testing, when the footage was recorded.
yea i thought it was 1080p. the xbone version is not 1080p for sure, it is very jaggy and ugly looking.

this might be the latest non demo build though.

also, the graphics quality took a hit compared the e3 stuff we saw initially. pretty much all the world objects are gone now. all we have left is a static environment and no objects at all.
 

Falk

that puzzling face
also, the graphics quality took a hit compared the e3 stuff we saw initially. pretty much all the world objects are gone now. all we have left is a static environment and no objects at all.

Uh... E3 showed virtually nothing of the Duscae region.

Unless you meant E3 2014, in which case the nonexistent FFXV presence showed nothing at all :V

edit: If you meant TGS/Jump Festa, yeah, some AO seems to have gone. Don't think object density changed as much as it was LoD tweaking though.
 
Uh... E3 showed virtually nothing of the Duscae region.

Unless you meant E3 2014, in which case the nonexistent FFXV presence showed nothing at all :V

edit: If you meant TGS/Jump Festa, yeah, some AO seems to have gone. Don't think object density changed as much as it was LoD tweaking though.

I was talking about the interactive objects in the world

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60nWEuj2wAI

look at all the stuff on the ground and how interactive it is. I guess the trees don't break during fights either. I was expecting a very interactive environment :/
 

Falk

that puzzling face
I was talking about the interactive objects in the world

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60nWEuj2wAI

look at all the stuff on the ground and how interactive it is. I guess the trees don't break during fights either. I was expecting a very interactive environment :/

There's a magnitude of difference between the amount of stuff going on in a city block and a wide open region. I don't think that's a fair comparison, until footage is shown of that same area running in Luminous.

edit: I know this is a shitty example (borderline hilarious to bring up) but the difference in detail between Dead Dunes and an indoor area like Snow's palace in Lightning Returns is massive.
 
There's a magnitude of difference between the amount of stuff going on in a city block and a wide open region. I don't think that's a fair comparison, until footage is shown of that same area running in Luminous.

edit: I know this is a shitty example (borderline hilarious to bring up) but the difference in detail between Dead Dunes and an indoor area like Snow's palace in Lightning Returns is massive.

lets see what happens with the city areas. But I was disappointed by the lack of destructible trees in that wildlife video. I mean crysis did that back in 2007
 

Lumination

'enry 'ollins
The gamersyde footage just makes it even more apparent when the models jitter over differences in terrain elevation.
 

paolo11

Member
The more I see screenshots or videos about this game, the more I want to buy this game ASAP.

Can't wait for the demo.
 
yea i thought it was 1080p. the xbone version is not 1080p for sure, it is very jaggy and ugly looking.

this might be the latest non demo build though.

also, the graphics quality took a hit compared the e3 stuff we saw initially. pretty much all the world objects are gone now. all we have left is a static environment and no objects at all.

Destruction, maybe. We didn't even see anybody playing that footage though. Visuals? Not really, that looked like an HD port of a ps3 game. The modelling and lighting here is a whole lot better.
 

djtiesto

is beloved, despite what anyone might say
Really liking the wildlife video... cave video scares me, no music until the battle music? I'm hoping the game has actual music when you're running around exploring and not just ambient sounds as is customary for a lot of modern games.
 

Koozek

Member
Really liking the wildlife video... cave video scares me, no music until the battle music? I'm hoping the game has actual music when you're running around exploring and not just ambient sounds as is customary for a lot of modern games.

I'm hoping for the exact opposite. Music only in boss battles, towns or special cutscenes and otherwise some short musical stems or single cues fading in and out dynamically once in a while. The battle music being blast out for every single small encounter is already annoying, just from watching the videos. It just seems so archaic to have the same song on loop everytime for a game with this kind of presentation and open-world gameplay where you spend a long time in the same area, imo.

I know it's strange coming from someone like me who loves melodic game music, but well, I just feel a more subtle use of music and silence (plus some nice environmental sounds) fits modern, cinematic games like this better. Both memorable and ambient music are valid approaches, it just has to match the game's style.
Hopefully they just used what they had already recorded for the trailers in the demo and will change the sound design for the final game.
 

Blizzje

Member
Tabata's answer to the resolution question was weird.

It really is weird how each and every piece of content we have seen so far is native 1080p (even the episode duscae direct feed screenshots). Now this video turns up and, guess what, it looks 1080p.

In the meantime Tabata says they didn't get to 1080p/30. So vague, maybe he means they didn't get to 30fps? Or are we getting an older build for the demo?

Edit: and yes, I realise I'm talking an awful lot about this games' resolution. I just think that they could have been more transparant about this stuff.
 

Koozek

Member
Oh, just remembered the Game Design panel with Wan and Sun at Pax on the 7th. Pretty excited.
http://www.novacrystallis.com/2015/...s-of-final-fantasy-xv-panel-set-for-pax-east/

I don't even want to see new footage (especially not from ED!), just some nice behind-the-scenes stuff and interesting trivia tidbits about the development process. I honestly feel oversaturated, as crazy as it sounds. Who would have ever thought I would get tired of getting new footage of Versus/FFXV someday, haha.
 

Hiko

Banned
It is kind of insane that the translation/dub is so bad considering the $$ they've invested in this game, and how much the dub actually matters. Everything post-FF6 was translated in-house right? I don't remember the lines in FF7/8/9 being quite so bad, although maybe that's just because they weren't spoken? The translation/dub here does seem to approximately be FFX quality (bad).

Edit: I forgot to say it looks fantastic. Please have Japanese dub with English subs so I can not understand the quality of the voice acting.

It's because the lines weren't spoken. Anime style dialogue and mannerisms will always sound and look idiotic in English, no matter how strong the localization. I mean, they look dumb enough even in native Japanese.
 

Kagari

Crystal Bearer
It really is weird how each and every piece of content we have seen so far is native 1080p (even the episode duscae direct feed screenshots). Now this video turns up and, guess what, it looks 1080p.

In the meantime Tabata says they didn't get to 1080p/30. So vague, maybe he means they didn't get to 30fps? Or are we getting an older build for the demo?

Edit: and yes, I realise I'm talking an awful lot about this games' resolution. I just think that they could have been more transparant about this stuff.

Maybe he just meant both versions? I get what you mean though, they might as well clarify it since it will be found out anyway.
 

djtiesto

is beloved, despite what anyone might say
I'm hoping for the exact opposite. Music only in boss battles, towns or special cutscenes and otherwise some short musical stems or single cues fading in and out dynamically once in a while. The battle music being blast out for every single small encounter is already annoying, just from watching the videos. It just seems so archaic to have the same song on loop everytime for a game with this kind of presentation and open-world gameplay where you spend a long time in the same area, imo.

I know it's strange coming from someone like me who loves melodic game music, but well, I just feel a more subtle use of music and silence (plus some nice environmental sounds) fits modern, cinematic games like this better. Both memorable and ambient music are valid approaches, it just has to match the game's style.
Hopefully they just used what they had already recorded for the trailers in the demo and will change the sound design for the final game.

I'd disagree with you on that... for another open-world game I point you to Xenoblade... Stepping out to Gaur Plains for the first time and hearing this... just such a magical moment. A game just feels 'bare' to me if it doesn't have a looping soundtrack.
 

Koozek

Member
I'd disagree with you on that... for another open-world game I point you to Xenoblade... Stepping out to Gaur Plains for the first time and hearing this... just such a magical moment. A game just feels 'bare' to me if it doesn't have a looping soundtrack.

Well, I played Xenoblade and loved the music, too, but it's not comparable to FFXV, imo. Xenoblade and also XCX are very gamey and janky presentation-wise and that's absolutly fine because it isn't trying to be something else.
I guess it's subjective, but I just feel FFXV should try as much as possible to supplement its more grounded, dynamic and seamless presentation with more subtlety in the other parts (minimalistic and non-intrusive UI, less loop-based music, more natural context-driven dialogue, etc.).
 
The inside of that cave looked like a typical xbox 360 environment to me, all very low poly barren stuff.

The wildlife reminds me of the typical mmo mobs dotted around an mmo map.
 

Falk

that puzzling face
Well, I played Xenoblade and loved the music, too, but it's not comparable to FFXV, imo. Xenoblade and also XCX are very gamey and janky presentation-wise and that's absolutly fine because it isn't trying to be something else.
I guess it's subjective, but I just feel FFXV should try as much as possible to supplement its more grounded, dynamic and seamless presentation with more subtlety in the other parts (minimalistic and non-intrusive UI, less loop-based music, more natural context-driven dialogue, etc.).

Not implying anything but I felt the BGM to Wildlands in LR worked pretty well. It wasn't the typical reach-out-and-grab-you JRPG overworld music. It was even more subdued than the Archylte Steppes theme in XIII
 

Koozek

Member
Not implying anything but I felt the BGM to Wildlands in LR worked pretty well. It wasn't the typical reach-out-and-grab-you JRPG overworld music. It was even more subdued than the Archylte Steppes theme in XIII

Yup, great songs! Loved LR's soundtrack in general (you're an amazing composer, Falk!
:p
). But well, LR is not like FFXV, either (smaller areas and no seamless battles).
FFXV is trying its best to achieve a dynamic feeling with its visuals, animations and AI. The music should supplement that, too.

Maybe split a song in all the different tracks and layer them depending on where you are on the map or which time of the day it is. Fade in a signature percussion rhythm that is adapted to the specific song's tempo and key when a battle starts (like Zelda). Silence plus ambient, environmental sounds are also a great tool for certain places (caves or deep forests at night).
There are many ways to do that if you're creative and you can still have melodic, memorable music, just in a more subtle and non-repetetive way.
I'm still hoping they'll do something more elaborate in the final version with a game of this ambition.

I'm curious, how would you do it, Falk?
 
The inside of that cave looked like a typical xbox 360 environment to me, all very low poly barren stuff.

The wildlife reminds me of the typical mmo mobs dotted around an mmo map.

It doesn't look low poly at all to me. Quite the opposite. Geometry looks better than just the beefy square rocks used in stuff like Dragon Age Inquisition. Sometimes the lighting looks a bit washed out, which doesn't do the game any favours. But i think it looks more impressive than its nearest peers. The near 1:1 scale does wonders as well in my opinion.
 
I'd disagree with you on that... for another open-world game I point you to Xenoblade... Stepping out to Gaur Plains for the first time and hearing this... just such a magical moment. A game just feels 'bare' to me if it doesn't have a looping soundtrack.

I don't even like Xenoblade, but I think it handled it's music well for a game of that scope.

I don't think being open world necessarily means it should conform to the usual type of sound design found in those types of games. Aside from the GTA series (and that's largely due to the radio stations) and RDR, I can't think of many open world games with a memorable OST.
 

Koozek

Member
I don't even like Xenoblade, but I think it handled it's music well for a game of that scope.

I don't think being open world necessarily means it should conform to the usual type of sound design found in those types of games. Aside from the GTA series (and that's largely due to the radio stations) and RDR, I can't think of many open world games with a memorable OST.

Well, as I said, ambient or dynamic music doesn't necessarily mean it can't also be memorable. Imagine a Xenoblade song split into its different tracks and only having the pizzicato strings and percussion tracks play first when you enter the area and then when you're progressing the other instruments fade in slowly. Or if you're just playing them normally at least make them as long and the song structures as varied as possible with a lot of downtime and more reduced breaks/bridges so that it doesn't get too repetitive or obtrusive.

For example, one of the few things I like about Skyward Sword in retrospective is the sound design. I might not remember any single melody besides Fi's theme but while I was playing I really enjoyed how playful and dynamic the music was with many different versions of the same song and single tracks fading in and out depending on the location. Nier did some cool stuff like that, too. An more elaborate version of that is what I would want from FFXV.
 
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