There could also be no higher use case for the response guys than the 2015 E3 announcement of Final Fantasy 7 Remake—screams, meltdowns, tears of pleasure—and the 2021 launch of the stuttery PC model of that very same recreation: screams, meltdowns, tears of bitter disappointment. It was a shamefully barebones launch of what ought to have been an enormous recreation for Square Enix, made even tougher to swallow by its 20-month delay after the console launch and exclusivity on the Epic Games Store.
It’s no marvel that final yr Square Enix’s CEO stated the corporate deliberate to refocus on multiplatform releases with a selected eye in the direction of “initiatives designed to win over PC customers.” Between majorly delayed releases and different not-a-bang-but-a-whimper launches like Kingdom Hearts assortment limping onto Steam after three years, Square Enix has persistently fumbled the bag on PC with the video games it ought to have the simplest time promoting.
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But hey: issues are lastly wanting up. The video above highlighting the PC options in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, out in only a few weeks, reads like an apology tour for all the issues with Remake.
It begins off with some fundamentals we would count on from a recreation working on higher-end {hardware} than the consoles supply, vaguely touting “improved lighting” and “enhanced visuals” which I assume means both higher-resolution textures or maybe an elevated draw distance; the console model significantly had picture high quality points with its “efficiency” mode that weren’t cleaned up till the PS5 Pro got here round.
After these fundamentals, the Rebirth PC trailer begins hitting on the options we actually count on to see in high-end video games: DLSS upscaling, granular graphics choices along with presets, and rebindable mouse/keyboard controls. I’ll give FF7 Remake credit score for getting that final one proper when many Japanese video games nonetheless do not, however together with the keyboard controls within the trailer—and likewise with the ability to crank up the variety of NPCs rendered on-screen without delay—exhibits Square Enix is critical about courting PC gamers.
They’re even bringing over DualSense help from the console model, a pleasant little bonus. You can learn a bit extra element on the PC options on the official web site.
There are nonetheless some high-end options lacking in motion right here that might sign Square Enix is actually investing in its PC ports: accessibility choices, for instance, in addition to ultrawide help and dynamic framerates at 144Hz and past. It’s disappointing to see a tough ceiling of 120 fps, and makes me marvel if and why the sport was programmed to run at static multiples of 30 fps these days. It took modders and utilities like Flawless Widescreen to deliver a few of that performance to Remake after launch.
It’s not like that is Square Enix’s first stab at making an incredible PC recreation; final yr Final Fantasy 16’s PC port was definitely higher than FF7 Remake’s, and if you happen to go manner again to 2018, Final Fantasy 15 was filled with PC-exclusive graphical bells and whistles. Remember Nvidia’s VXAO (voxel ambient occlusion) or Turf Effects? I positive do not, however FF15 used them each!
Square Enix has another black marks in its PC historical past, together with Nier: Automata. It’s irritating seeing these sorts of technical blunders mar what must be the definitive variations of some nice video games. With FF7 Rebirth touchdown on PC lower than a yr after the PlayStation 5 and going out of its solution to spotlight all of its enhancements, I hope we’re seeing the primary outcomes of Square’s initiative to win over extra PC gamers.
Now how about that Final Fantasy Tactics remaster, huh?
