PS4 version to run locked at 30 FPSFollow

I said "probably". If you're implying that they went from having the game running at 30 FPS to 60 FPS in a month and a half's time, I would have to say that that is unlikely.

PS4 is not a solid state drive, correct?

Are people going to be cracking brand new PS4's open to shove a SSD in?

Either that are be last to load for every dungeon. Hmm.

PS4 can store a lot more data in RAM which will speed things up considerably.

Sega of America can't even figure out how to release Phantasy Star Online 2 in the U.S. and every title for Phantasy Star Online and Phantasy Star Universe was updated at molasses speed. I think that SE updates FFXIV at a reasonable pace in comparison.

Alright, you got me there. Phantasy Star Universe was worse. lol

I think the compromise between you two is probably just to wait and see. It's pretty much impossible to pin them down to anything because we haven't even reached beta phase. If you follow the trail back through the interviews you'll see that they flop back and forth like a fish out of water. That said, it's something we should have expected for two reasons:

1) XIV hasn't even reached testing phase for PS4 yet, and
2) The hardware is still pretty new

For anyone who wants to follow the trail...



This is the source for the above info, but I don't have a link for the interview they say contradicts with it. I assume that this source is what the BG interview was translated from. Then of course we have the newest ZAM interview.

So they made an initial statement of 60 which may have been a bit ambitious, walked it back(since it was probably just an estimate based on the specs of yet to be released PS4 hardware) and have now settled on what seems to be a compromise of the two.

To be honest, 30 or 60 cap doesn't bother me in the slightest. Unless you're running a godlike PC, you're going to average closer to 30 FPS anyway. I'm more concerned about the number of rendered models on screen as this was an issue the PS3 suffers from. Yoshi said he expects up to 200 characters at a time from the PS4 so that's really all I would be concerned with at this point. It isn't worth it to sacrifice gameplay for the sake of graphics if you can only see half of what is really happening on your screen.



Edited, Feb 13th 2014 6:07pm by FilthMcNasty

Once you turn off a couple of the graphic options on the ps3, most of the game runs fine. I have FATE grinded 2 charcs to 50 with no problems of lag or framerate drops. Same for any endgame content (havent been in coil turn 5 yet), once you turn a couple setting off, it fixes most any framerate issues. I can't imagine that the ps4 will be any worse, it can only be an upgrade I would assume.

The lightning event to me was nice, more so than Heavensturn or Halloween or the holiday events, simply because the weapons and armor have some kind of use!

Edited, Feb 14th 2014 1:00pm by Valkayree

The GI review is giving it a 7 out of 10? That's not really ouch-worthy...

Gotta read the article. What I got from it was that it missed an opportunity to actually tie-the story together with a satisfying conclusion. The biggest problem the reviewer noted is the entire game is timed. Which is the opposite of what you want for a series that traditionally rewards players for spending extra time to explore. There is a ton to explore, and yet you don't know if you have time, so you skip it. I like exploring, but the game seems to be about rushing.

The world ends in 13 game days from when you start. The reviewer said he finished in 7. That's almost twice the amount of time you need that can potentially be used for exploring. Maybe if there was an indicator in how much of the overall story is left, so that you could manage your time... who knows, maybe there is.

I never really got behind the Paradigm Shift systems. They have been replaced with some new battle mechanic. Maybe the action at least will be more entertaining. That seems to be the case. Although the Crystarium was cool. That feature has been removed. In place is a system where you get pre-set stat increases for completing side-quests. Doesn't sound like you get much control over character development.

Probably there are a lot of fans of the series that will enjoy it. Also, it's just one review. No doubt I'll play it. I'm generally just a bit more enthusiastic for the latest FF to release.

Sounds like this guy never used Chronostasis

Honestly, I liked FFXIII.

Most of the complaints I tend to see about the modern FF games are linked to the way they aren't old school JRPG style, and I just don't think there's really room in the market for those games at the big budget level.

Also, it seems really clear that LR is built around a New Game+ system. The one-and-done style is really only for people who just want to see the main scenario play out and be done with it. But the people who want to take the time to explore every nook and cranny are going to do multiple NG+ runs, and get constant advancement out of their characters as a result.

I obviously can't comment on whether or not that's done well, since I'm still finishing up FFXIII-2 (LR is waiting for me). But it seems like a weird critique to me to complain about lack of exploration potential (or other things, like the "exterminate the whole species" mechanic he noted in the review) when a comfortable keep-all-your-character-progress style NG+ exists.

Sounds like the timeline exists to force you to prioritize instead of wander. And I can't fault them for that in theory, because the ability to stop and grind for hours, or traverse the globes for sidequests when the big bad is about to destroy the world, is one of the worst holdovers from the oldschool jrpg era.

I know it's one people get really nostalgic for, but it's really, REALLY bad from a game design perspective, because it utterly destroys the ability of the writers and designers to set the pacing of the story (and difficulty of the content), which leads to pretty strong disconnects from the actual story content and world building.

Even worse, people who grew up on JRPGs feel like they HAVE to do this, because it was usually the case that you needed to grind to win. A system like a countdown sounds like it was directly intended to force players to not do that and actually engage with the content in real time, rather than drawing it out over hours and hours and hours of unnecessary grinding?