Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is almost here, and it looks like it will push the PS5 and the game’s slightly-aging Unreal Engine 4 tech to the limits, so how does the game measure up technically? Well, the pixel counters at Digital Foundry have posted some early analysis, and it’s a bit of a mixed bag, depending on what visual mode you decide to use. You can check out their full video below if you have 10 minutes to spare, or you can scroll on down for our recap of the important points.
Overall, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is obviously a very polished game, but Digital Foundry does find some inconsistencies in asset and lighting quality, which may be down to its dated engine. The game offers up two visual options on PS5, a 60fps Performance Mode and a 30fps Quality Mode, and it seems the latter is definitely what you’re going to want to go for.
Performance mode runs at around 1152p natively according to DF, but many people playing the demo noticed it looked softer than that, likely due to poor upscaling. Prior to launch, this had been changed, with Square Enix applying a rather crude-seeming nearest-neighbor pixel duplicating technique, which makes the image sharper but also gives everything an ugly grainy pixelated look. On top of that, Performance Mode can’t quite stick the 60fps landing, dropping to around 50fps in more frantic battles and when lots of NPCs are around.
Meanwhile, Quality Mode features slightly more world detail and runs close to a native 4K at most times, although it may drop to as low as 1440p in some instances. The upscaling issues present in Performance mode are not a problem here. The game runs at a rock-solid 30fps, with at most a single frame dropped here and there. The only real issue Digital Foundry could identify was a lack of motion blur during camera movements, which can make things look slightly choppy.
So yeah, add Final Fantasy VII Rebirth to the list of recent games where Quality Mode is your best bet. The game’s combat may be largely action-based now, but let’s be real, this isn’t Devil May Cry, so 30fps should serve the game just fine. Alternatively, you can be patient and wait for a likely PC release.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth launches on PS5 on February 29. You can check out Wccftech’s very positive review of the game here!
