The much-awaited Xbox Series X take on Final Fantasy XVI is now out, but it's not all smooth. It does offer a more stable frame rate than the PlayStation 5 version, but some parts don't look as good.
Experts at Digital Foundry took a close look at the Xbox Series X version. They found that Final Fantasy XVI shows at a lower resolution on this console in both its Graphics and Frame Rate modes. For example, an early scene in Rosalith is 1440p on the PlayStation 5 but drops to 1224p on the Xbox Series X. Usually, games look the same or even better on the Xbox Series X, so this is unexpected.
As a result, the game might look less clear on the Xbox Series X. Both versions use the same smoothing methods (TSC MAA and AMD FSR 1), so the blur is mainly due to the lower resolution. Yet, resolution isn't the only issue. Digital Foundry also saw big differences in light, darkness, and color levels. Some parts, like how plants show up, even seem to have errors. It's clear that updates are needed to fix these picture problems.
Where the Xbox Series X version of Final Fantasy XVI stands out is in its Frame Rate Mode. Even though it lowers the resolution to 720p (compared to 1080p on the PlayStation 5), the game runs at a steady 60 frames per second in both exploring and fighting. This kind of consistent performance isn't always seen in the PlayStation 5’s similar mode.
Sadly, this smoother play does come with other downsides, like less fine details in the game world, to keep the frame rate steady.
