![Final Fantasy 16 PS5](https://images.pushsquare.com/c4b6c9119a10a/final-fantasy-16-ps5.900x.jpg)
It sounds like Final Fantasy XVI director Hiroshi Takai has been left thoroughly impressed by the PS5. In a new interview over on the PlayStation Blog, Takai talks about the advantages of developing for Sony's current-gen console, and although this isn't the first time we've seen such praise, his answers shed a little more light on what the team could do with its PS5 exclusive.
"The two main things that struck me were the size of the memory and the speed of the SSD. I’ve worked with a lot of different hardware over the years, and many have failed to strike the right balance between the capabilities of the hardware and the size of the memory," Takai explains. "However, the PS5 is different — it comes with enough memory installed to take full advantage of the hardware."
He continues: "As for the SSD, as we were building the game, I was simply blown away by how fast it was."
Now, obviously, this is an interview on the platform's official blog, and it's coming from a guy who's been working on a Sony-backed project for years — of course it's going to be positive. But Takai does go into some additional detail with regards to development.
According to the director, Final Fantasy XVI features some incredibly granular assets, both environmentally and with the character models — and all of these assets are given depth with high quality lighting effects. "It’s really resource-intensive just to render these models on screen, and the lighting and shadow effects are then layered on top of that. We’re only able to do this thanks to the size of the PS5’s memory," says Takai.
"Clive, the protagonist of FFXVI, can unleash a wide range of attacks, and the animations and effects for them can all fit in the memory, too. And the way that the game seamlessly flows between resource-intensive gameplay to equally intensive cutscenes and back again wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for the speed of the SSD," he concludes.
Based on everything we've seen so far — including our own hands on with the game earlier in the year — Final Fantasy XVI looks absolutely immaculate. On a presentational level, it might well be up there with what we'd expect from Sony's first party PlayStation Studios. And it's hard to reach that level of graphical prowess unless you're targeting a specific platform — a console that the team knows inside out.
What we're getting from Takai is that Final Fantasy XVI exists as it does because it's a PS5 exclusive. We already know, for example, that Sony had a hand in the game's development by having its own engineers assist with its optimisation.
Hopefully the developer's efforts are even more apparent when the action RPG releases on 22nd June.
[source blog.playstation.com]
Comments 45
At this point gamers can't be gullible enough to believe this, right? Oh wait I forget that there are millions of new gamers every year so this will probably get them excited.
Interesting insights into the size of the memory specifically. Tom from “Moore’s Law is Dead” was talking about this on Sacred Symbols+ recently. Apparently devs have easier access and use of the PS5’s memory due to its 16gb of RAM being one large block vs. something like the Series X’s 16gb of segmented memory which ultimately makes it easier to store and use larger assets.
but theres PC and Xbox it will work on also.
@stvevan It would be foolish to assume FF16 is coming to Xbox when FF7 Remake is almost 3 years old and still isn't on Xbox. PC release for FF16 however is likely in 2024 given the 6 month exclusivity window and what exclusivity windows meant for FF7 Remake.
Great let's hope he can make more great games using the Ps5 capabilities, especially if Final Fantasy 16 is anything to go by, game looks incredible.
The game looks like a first party game because it probably is. For me, Sony and Square are too close to not have a deeper connection. These companies must have already merged in some degree.
@stvevan at this point new ff games working on an xbox might just be an urban myth, we'll never know 🤔
@Grumblevolcano oh yeah i know it wont go there.
i was more just joking to his not possible without ps5, like the other two couldnt run it.
@GrimReaper Yeah I mean PC is still a thing and it's way more powerful lol
@JayJ No AAA developers are developing for PC first tho. Crysis 1 in 2007 was a glimpse of how much better could be without consoles, but pricing has always been a problem and it's only getting worse.
@Shstrick It is unfortunate that Microsoft chose a route that makes developers optimize more.
I am sure the engineers at Microsoft had amazing ideas when it came to the split memory idea, but the problem is that it requires work. Work that third-party developers don't want to deal with "properly".
It's the same with the GPU. Yes, technically it can do more than the PS5, but it requires work to properly use it. Sony chose a slightly higher speed GPU, Microsoft went with a more threaded GPU solution.
Sony wanted to do more of the same but with more power from a developer standpoint. Microsoft leaned more heavily into technologies and hardware optimization strategies that eat into an already strained development time.
I applaud Sony for keeping it simple as it's been paying off for third-parties. But I also can't wait to see a properly optimized game for Series X|S (which will only come from a first-party developer).
@GrimReaper Yeah it seems like "AA" has become the big thing with PC exclusive games these days, like all of the PC exclusives I play these days could be described as that. The days of "AAA" focusing on PC is long gone.
@Shstrick Stand Down
Square is basically a Sony subdivision isn't it?
I love my PS5 but I can't play many games on graphics mode without the frame rate being so bad I feel like puking so I'm always stuck on lackluster frame rate mode graphics, that's not amazing to me.
He is not wrong though. PS5 is best for multiplats as well.
Of course, it doesn't help MS that the series X is hamstrung by the series S. PS5 doesn't have that problem.
Idk, when I read these comments from them regarding the PS5. I feel like something might be lost in translation. I don't think they're necessarily saying it's literally only possible on a PS5
Meanwhile Sony just ported their own PS5 games to PC, like Returnal and Spiderman:MM to prove that PS5's SSD is not special. And FF16 will be on PC eventually.
At this point when Sony announced they acquire square, Enix
@Judal27 i agree..i think this game is possible on other platforms. Reading this article my take is that it was far easier to achieve their vision on the ps5 due to the design of the architecture in it. Now if square (a company usually slated for performance issues) can do this then why do other companys struggle to get to grips with the ps5 and exploit the potential there? Is it lack of understanding on how to maximise whats under the hood or is there too much focus on having to have multiple editions of the game release over older platforms on the same day too? Who knows but it sounds like better things are on the way for ps5 owners.
Wiping your ass with toillete paper wouldn't be possible without toillette paper
@PC_Peasant not sure they intended to show the ps5's ssd isnt special..it is unique for a console but there are ssd's for the pc that are more than a match for it..i think porting those games was more about money than anything else.
@Radekbejbl1 grim thought but true 🤣
@GrimReaper
It’s getting way worse.
Just for kicks I decided to pretend build what I would consider a mid range PC in terms of modern specs. I’ve been out of the PC game since 2010 but I’ve always had desires to go back to it.
I was pretty shocked with what I ended up with. 1800 bucks before accessories. And i paired a semi decent AMD CPU with a RTX 3070 in the pretend build with 16 gigs of system RAM.
And that’s what is considered a mid range PC these days. Completely nuts.
@PC_Peasant
Returnal has some stupid recommended specs when it comes to memory though.
I think they did that for gamers who don’t have M2 drives.
@OrtadragoonX my PC for reference cost about £2200 before a monitor, desk, keyboard etc but that's high end.
For mid range I'd probably target the 3060ti as that's still a strong GPU, certainly above the consoles but often much cheaper than the 3070 whilst not being that far away from it. That said it'd still probably be around £1400.
The PS5 and Series X are exceptional value for what they can do but I'm glad I built my PC as I have access to so many games not on these consoles plus everything else it can do
Game coming to pc, only possible on ps5...
In reality, the PS5 specs are nothing to be blown away by in terms of performance. I love my PS5 and it's great value for performances In the context of PS5 vs PS4 I am sure the development process is far more manageable with memory allocation ect. However the devs are all using top spec PC's to actually develop the game. This is largely hyperbole market talk.
Looking forward to FFXVI like most of you for gameplay and story reasons, but I am not impressed on a technical and design level. The only thing that makes this a viable current gen release is perhaps the choice of 4k or FPS (and I hate having to choose in this gen) and the fast load times. The visuals and design are on par with what we saw in the last generation. I was far more impressed how FF7 remake looked on a PS4 but that game is more stylised as well.
I am a huge Final Fantasy but come on... This game will be playable in PCs next year and it will also be Steam Deck verified. Also, they kind of said that they tried to make FF16 run on PS4...
Moreover, Sony ports first party games to PCs with mechanical drives and gaming performance slightly better than PS4 or verifies them for the Steam Deck...
I'm really looking forward to this ,just wish they wouldn't have called him clive,whats his mates called ,dave and keith
@jrt87 I dunno ,I was very impressed with the way ratchet and clank used the ssd
It looks like sucking up to Sony and promoting the PS5 was also part of the exclusive deal.
Also the XSX has similar, if not better specs, at least on paper.
@stvevan if the Activision deal goes through, which it probably will,i wouldn't expect to see another new ff game on xbox ever again,plus Sony will be looking to acquire more titles exclusive to their console,I won't be suprised if the rumoured metal gear remake ,is only on ps,and made by bluepoint,probably why sonys been quiet of late ,no way are they gonna announce new exclusive titles,in the middle of all these shenanigans.
Imagine what the PS6 will be capable of.
People getting triggered over his comment lol 😂. But he is 100% right "FF16 only possible on the PlayStation 5" because he is obviously saying being on a PLAYSTATION Website, working on a PLAYSTATION timed exclusive game the game wouldn't be possible on the PS4.
@DrGonzo even better..other devs should ask sony for help as well then..
@UltimateOtaku91 Final Fantasy XVI should be a strong contender for 2023 GOTY, even with competition like Hogwarts, Star Wars, Zelda, and Starfield all releasing in the same year.
@DanteDevilHunter See exhibit A directly above lol.
@Northern_munkey you can buy a pcie4 ssd but most pc gamers don't have them installed alomg with a 10+ tflop gpu and compatible motherboard. So the investment value of porting to PC is limited at this time if you design your game around using pcie4 ssd on ps5. Same for Ratchet and Clank.
@CARBONFIBER my point was that porting the games to the pc was to make more money from the pc gamers..sell more units etc..nothing to do with the hardware really..
@Rhaoulos And somehow there are quite a few games that run better on the PS5. 🤪
@Flaming_Kaiser I guess you've never heard of optimisation for different hardware. Like some games run like crap on high end pc, when they run smoothly on much less powerful hardware like the PS5 and XSX.
I so cannot wait to play this! Between this and Tears of the Kingdom, my time is slim!
@Savage_Joe #Truth
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...