Final Fantasy XVI Visuals Are Not on Par With FFXIII’s CGI, but They Are Close, New Analysis Reveals

While its visuals are a little uneven, especially in Performance Mode, there’s no denying that Final Fantasy XVI can look stunning at times. While the new game in the series doesn’t feature visuals on par with the stunning CGI sequences of the thirteenth entry in the franchise, they are not that far behind.

In a new video shared today, Digital Foundry compared the real-time visuals of Final Fantasy XVI with the CGI sequences of Final Fantasy XIII, highlighting how character rendering, shadows, and environmental design are on par, if not even better, in the latest entry in the series. When it comes to image quality, however, FFXIII’s CGI sequences are definitely superior, unsurprisingly. So, while FFXVI’s visuals still cannot compare to CGI sequences for a game released almost 15 years ago, they are not that much worse, suggesting that the day when real-time graphics will be better than CGI is not that far off in the future.

Even though it has its fair share of technical issues, such as uneven performance, which has yet to be fixed as of the latest patch, Final Fantasy XVI is a more than worthy purchase for any fan of the series and of character action games fans, as highlighted by Kai in his review.

Final Fantasy XVI heralds in a new standard for Japanese role-playing games and while the RPG components themselves are limited by Square-Enix standards, it’s the narrative and gameplay that exceed all expectations. What begins with kingdom-wide subterfuge and destruction ends with a world forever changed and the player, as Clive Rosfield and Ifrit together, are the driving force to see it all through until the end.

Final Fantasy XVI is now available on PlayStation 5.