Final Fantasy XIV PS4 Version Lets You Choose 1080p and 720p Native Resolution: Screenshots Compared

Square Enix mentioned in the past that the PS4 version of Final Fantasy XIV runs at 1080p, but that's not completely true, as it can run at 720p too, if you want.

Many console users asked, over the years, for more extensive graphical options in order to better customize their experience, but the ability to select the game’s native resolution has pretty much always been an exclusive of PC gamers. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn changes that, and the beta that opened its floodgates today has an option that lets you switch whenever you like between 1080p and 720p straight from the game’s menu.

[svoulis]

This is something I hope is going to be a standard for Console gamers this gen. I want to be able to choose FPS over Visuals (IF I want to) in some cases (mainly MP).

This is awesome news.

[incendy35]

I agree, even on PC I lower resolution until I reach a steady 60fps since that is most important to me. Give us the choice.

[Magicite]

I do never lower resolution on my PC. I rather lower AA or any other effect, but resolution is most important.

[clouds5]

There are plenty of ways to get 60fps on PC other than lowering resolution...

[Chrischi1988]

Resolution is not the most important. AA is just as important.

[hay]

Unfortunatelly resolution drop to 720p alone does not free enough processors' time to jump from 30 to 60fps.

[svoulis]

I have an alienware m17x . Played Crysis 3 on high settings hit about 30ish fps, lowered Resolution to 720p got around 60fps was much happier to sacrifice some visuals for FPS. Not saying every game would find a performance increase in the same way just nice to have options :D

If I want amazing visuals I play it on my PC which has 2x GTX680s!

[incendy35]

It definitely could depending on how the game was written. Your shaders will get a huge relief.

[hay]

Precisely, depending on how the program was written. Pixel shader will have a lot less to do that's true, but vertex will operate mostly on lower values, which won't translate as well. Also rasterization will have to cover smaller data chunks.

But if engine isn't using well it's draw distance(namely won't degrade LOD with distance), textures and models will be the same, which won't translate as good.

Haven't really noticed many shaders on FFXIV personally, but this is a MMO, in most cases performance hit will be visible during huge events or in towns. And can be HUGE as you can't really degrade character textures and models on PS4.

@svoulis: 720p also benefits from antialiasing much more than 1080p, which can blur resolution difference easily within similar performance requirements as 1080p.

[mmc-007]

the game is already 1080p @60fps?

[incendy35]

Textures most definitely vary based on resolution at least for me, I usually package for multiple resolutions. And in many cases models as well, although I prefer to keep the poly count as high as is possible. It is up to the developer what he wants to do with code based on resolution. If they are offering two resolutions, that typically means they are using that variable to adjust assets around it.

A 1080p frame can use around 16mb of memory for each draw based on pixels, a 720p frame would be less than half of that. If you are doing any effects like AA etc, you will get twice the amount of draws with 720p.

[MonstaTruk]

I thought PS4 FFXlV was already 1080p/60fps. Did I miss something?

[SilentNegotiator]

I've played plenty of games on PC where the framerate raises/lowers pretty linearly with pixel count.

[kopicha]

@mmc @monsta

dont just look at header. go read the article and it get you out of the puzzle. yes the game is already 1080/60 and still is. however it was said before there can be case where you are in an area where there are tons of players on screen like for eg. Odin FATE where you have like half the people on the entire server in 1 location trying to take a boss down together. In such scenario you will definitely experience drastic drop in frame rate. Since the game is trying to display 100s of HQ character models on screen at once. That can even make a high end PC struggle to keep the frame rate up. While the PS4 version of the game actually have this newly added feature that allow you to switch your internal renderer to render the game at 720p at the cost of some visual to get more juice to pump the frame rate. thou the game is still capped out at 60fps regardless of the resolution you select. And this is a really nice touch there. Would say first of it's kind implementation for a console game.

[OutcastMosquito]

I've been waiting so long for a feature like this to be implemented. F*cking nice!

[svoulis]

@NiteX

Hm, I guess my 3 27" LED monitors and extra 24" LED are considered CRT to you?

http://tinyurl.com/lw4najf

^my junk.

[Thehyph]

Props for the O.G. Winamp!

I actually had the Winamp 2 skin burned-in to an old CRT monitor years ago.

Wow, I hadn't really thought about the length before, but I've been using Winamp for about 15 years. Nutty.

[Bigpappy]

Will that sounds much better. They are satisfying both groups here, and allowing those how prefer performance over resolution to have that choice. I was wise on the part of the developer to recognize that each had their upsides, and that some people would just prefer smooth non dipping game play. Of course if you can dye both, that is ideal, but the choice is very welcomed, and I hope it starts a trend that will lead to developers not having to give up anything

[elhebbo16]

In that case just buy a PC.

[tee_bag242]

I agree. This is my only gripe about consoles. I prefer 60fps even if its 720p to under 60fps at a higher res. Hopefully this kind of option becomes a standard.

[patrik24]

why would anybody choose 720p? better frame-rate?

[FlameBaitGod]

FPS games

[ethomaz]

In the FFXIV case a lot of uses complained the text are too small and to fix that they are changing the PS4 resolution to 720p... no SE give a option to change only the game resolution to fix the small text.

It is a workarround... they need to give a good text size even in 1080p.

[sigfredod]

You should download the beta or check by yourself before state that is a workaround, they did fix the text size already is bigger on 1080p, to switch between resolutions is an extra option

[svoulis]

Already fixed on PS4 been playing the Beta. It has nothing to do with text size has to do with performance the game floats around 30-45fps and can take a dive depending where you are, 720p will give it a boost if you aren't okay with the performance hit.

[ethomaz]

@svoulis

It didn't give any boost in performance... the framerate seems the same in 720p or 1080p... 60fps most time and drops when there are a lot of players in both resolutions.

720p is a bit blurry BTW.

[black0o]

does the 720p allow for more stable framrate?

if no, does that mean S.E is trolling! since there's no x1 version, they had to implanted in the PS4's version. do devs this days love the comparison articles?

[Kiknyonutz]

Looks great. Can't wait for the full release on PS4.

[Volkama]

That's a bit weird. Anyone so desperate to down their resolution can do so at the system level.

Maybe FFXIV hits some performance problems in crowded areas, so changing on the fly is useful.

[Abriael]

That's not correct. Dropping resolution at the system level drops the OUTPUT resolution, not the native resolution, with zero effect on performance.

Every machine hits "performance problems" when there are 100 people on screen on a MMORPG. It's endemic of the genre and has nothing to do with the PS4 in particular.

[Volkama]

Fair enough on the native resolution and performance. The only time I've ever changed my console resolution away from my TV's native was when the One had that sharpening problem. I never considered performance gains. Just image quality.

I wasn't implying this had anything to do with the PS4 hardware lacking though. It's the nature of MMORPGs that devs can't very easily control how many characters they may be rendering or what they may be doing.

In my day you'd get a warning that a portal storm was brewing if an area was too crowded, and next thing you knew you were swimming alone in a random ocean.

I don't even think many PC gamers change resolution to fit the scenario, I would expect some automatic LOD scaling on character models and perhaps caps on how many are actually rendered. Those are pretty standard in the genre these days (and may also be in here). That's why I say it's weird to see the option.

[illidari]

The title says native resolution was changed. What are you going on about output resolution for.

[Volkama]

@illidari I incorrectly assumed that lowering the resolution at the system level would also lower the native resolution on games. Shoot me.

[Duke19]

Does the resolution drop make text appear larger? (HUD, etc) I could see that being useful for people on various HDTV's.

That said, even its a minor performance gain for 720p, id likely keep mine pinned at 1080p always - even if i'm squinting at the chat box from 8 feet away.

The better question is - is the game worth getting? I thought the beta was enjoyable enough..)

[hkgamer]

I've been playing it on ps3. Was definitely worth playing, though admittedly I have stopped for a few months.

Now for the hud. There is 3 different sizes you can adjust it to. Definitely helpful if you are far from screen.

I recommend playing with keyboard and mouse for this game. The higher the level, the more skills you will need.

[windblowsagain]

I really do wish people would understand.

1080P VS 720P.

It only matters if you have a 1080p that can deliver those extra pixels.

If you have a 720p, it will look just as good at that NATIVE rez.

[Predaking77]

Sorry but that's not true. When you buy a TV, resolution does matter and there is a reason 1080p cost more. When I download some episodes online I choose those with 1080p. When I buy a smartphone, resolution is important.

[T2]

Bingo
I've had a 1080p tv since 09

[hkgamer]

Gonna be 720p for me. Need the extra fps so less excuses for dying.

[kingPoS]

So the PS4 ver of FFXIV lets you chose between resolutions, that's great! Better to have the option and not need it than to need it and not have it. Having more options never hurt anyone, cept maybe those who never so much as glance at the configure menu to begin with. lol

Aren't options great!

Gateway MT6706 2008

[RE_L_MAYER]

i used to play on pc and 720 and 1080 didnt make a bunch of difference to me,720 was not as wide of a screen maybe but had faster frames and abit of better quality,same for 1080-wider picture but less either fps or quality on pc it was up to you

[ginsunuva]

This could be the start of a new thing.

Games in the future could have options where you choose either 1080/lowerFPS or 720/higherFPS.

Would take more work and to implement and cause more bugs/inconsistencies though.

[Predaking77]

Nice to have that option but obviously I will go with 1080p.

[ShowGun901]

im sorry, to me the difference between the two in NOTICEBLE! and im on a 18" monitor, sitting 4 feet away (for testing purposes LOL, thats not where i normally sit!)

resolution so low, might as well rub dirt in my eyes!

cookie for who gets the reference!

[MasterCornholio]

LOL

Im in the same situation since i game on a 22 inch monitor.

[XiSasukeUchiha]

This will inplemented in all games or else!

[worldwidegaming]

beautiful! One more step to making console gaming more flexible. more frames for a lower res! why not!?

[tommygunzII]

This game really needs this feature. I recommended a similar trade off for performance for the PS3 during the first beta test feedback mainly for battles like Odin and Behemoth.

[voltron420170]

Honestly does it really matter? The game looks like ass regardless, this crap could run on a ps2 w/ no problem in either resolution..

[Shad0wRunner]

Doubtful

The PS2 could barely run FFXI decently enough, there's no way it could handle FFXIV at optimum settings. The game actually looks very good, displaying a wide array of art, from zone to zone. Lush forests and greenery, little towns, big cities...if you cant admire and appreciate the art in the game...then you really are missing out on a lot.

FFXIV is probably the best MMO currently ON consoles. Maybe better than ESO.

[derekac770]

No point of reference you don't even have a ps4 do you?? And if you do you have not played the beta
Your lack of reference is laughable.
I'm talking to you voltron troll.

[RaptgamersUnited]

Yeah thank God some developer has half a brain. This should be standard for most games. Especially shooters.

[Sci0n]

I like this idea but what would be the point in lowering the Res if we already can see that it runs smooth as butter on the ps4 in full 1080p 60fps.

[lesrima88]

too bad on xbox one there is no option for native 1080p

[ovnipc]

Great idea to give the player the choice. But this game sucks, non of the quest have voice wtf. I take eso 100 times before this kitty looking game. Even the tanks on this game look like cats.

[ironmonkey]

thats an awesome idea and they are the first to do it first on console. thumbs up enix.

[LetoAtreides82]

I'd stick with the 1080p, everything is so damn blurry at 720p. But I strongly applaud this recent move by developers to give gamers the choice to choose what's more important to them graphics and performance-wise. I hope eventually all developers do the same.

[anesthesique]

Like the fact that we have an option, wonder how noticeable the difference with the FPSs is gonna be between the two resolutions.

Out of topic a bit but I wish Square Enix would go back to the old classic Final Fantasy rpg style, when it was turn-based and forget the button mashing approach.

[Predaking77]

After playing the beta yesterday I got to say that I like the game. I played it on 1080p of course. I didn't expect the beta to look that good. The game is huge, so many stuff to do. Also, I'm still a bit lost with the controls but maybe because it is my first MMO. The DS4 does a great job with the touch pad allowing you to use it like a mouse.

I don't know of this game will required a subscription and I hope not. I'm afraid that if I play a demo of Elder Scrolls online I will like it and end up paying the suscription :(

[kopicha]

it is subscription based not free lunch. FFXIV has very good controller support. In fact 1 of the best out there that I have use in quite a number of different MMOs that actually support 1. So that is nothing new to what has been implemented on DS4 with the exception of the touchpad being able to directly control the mouse cursor. A nice touch but then again pretty useless since you hardly even need to use the cursor when you are actually playing on controller. Most friends I know playing this on PC actually play on controller as well. And personally I played it on PS3 so I can tell you they are the same.

I dont know about you really but personally imo I feel ESO suck. Played the beta and tbh it does not feel anything like Elder Scroll. Not sure if much have change in the released version. But just not impress at all during the experience in beta.

[derekac770]

In beta phase 2 you installed the full retail version of the game and when in fates that had 10 or so people in it the game ran perfect. It runs at 1920 X 1080p at 60fps. The people arguing this point have not played the beta so there point of reference is non existing. Please go play the game before arguing points just because you have a pc. Last time I checked a ps4 and a pc are different to0. So if you have a ps4 get game cause beta is over and gain reference to this article and then come back with some knowledge. Also this game looks great on ps4. Flawless picture and smooth no matter how many people are in an area. Also I saw some people saying it looks like shit; trolls are trolls and like I said go gain some points of reference.
(Big Lebowski)