Time for role-playing action
The Final Fantasy XV Windows edition has plenty of downloadable content and mod support, writes Emillio Daniel
FINAL Fantasy XV took a really long time to develop; you can trace its development all the way back to 2006, which means the game took around 10 years to make. When it finally released on Nov 29, 2016 onPlaystation 4 and Xbox One, it received mixed reviews and some backlash, given a rather haphazard story towards the ending. But could a year and a half out in the open have given it time to improve?
But with Square Enix buckling down on having their games released on PC as Japan once again embraced gaming, it was only a matter of time before the beloved Final Fantasy series had its newer titles surface on PC.
Do note however that unlike Nier: Automata (2017), which only took about 10 days to release on PC, Final Fantasy XV was only released for PC on March 6 this year. You can purchase the game through Steam for RM219 but do keep an eye out for sales events where can drop to half its retail price.
We’ve got a lot to talk about regarding this game but a few things need to be clarified first. I played and finished the main questline as well as about half of the sidequests when it initially released for Playstation 4. I picked up the Windows Edition during the recent Steam Summer Sale and clocked in 60 hours on a system running a NVIDIA GTX 1050 ti with 4GB of memory, a Core i7 CPU and 8GB of RAM.
I also got a chance to test this game on higher-end PCs running a GTX 1080. This is going to be important later.
WHAT’S NEW?
One thing that’s nice about the Windows edition is that it’s your equivalent of “game of the year” edition with all previously released DLCs (downloadable contents) included. Which means right from the start at no extra cost, you get three new story expansion packs as well as a Multiplayer expansion pack.
Another nice addition to the game is that it comes with Mod Support integrated with the Steam Workshop. However, don’t expect the same quality or quantity of mods as can be seen with games like The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim or Fallout 4. This game is surprisingly unfriendly with modding, most of what you’ll find are just aesthetic changes such as giving your party members different clothes or making them look like members of the Japanese Power Rangers — that is actually a fun mod, do try it.
You can mod in some weapons too but Square Enix seems to invigilate what actually makes the cut on the workshop, so you won’t find any daggers that kill with one hit there, unfortunately — a hilariously popular mod to use in Elder Scrolls games.
CONTROLS
Controls were easy to get used to and I found that I actually had an easier time switching between casting spells and chaining attacks than it was on a Playstation 4 controller. Almost every action was assigned its own key after all. Unfortunately, this oddly doesn’t translate to the Multiplayer expansion which simplifies the battle system, thus making it rather confusing if you jump into that from the main game.
By the way, if you haven’t finished the main game, don’t touch the multiplayer expansion, it’s a massive spoiler for the main game.
Now let’s talk about the elephant in the room. I brought up Nier: Automata earlier and for good reason, it appears that some optimisation shenanigans took place in porting both of these games to PC as they took a significant hit in shipping with rather noticeable problems. For Nier: Automata, it was a matter of getting the game to actually display at full-screen 1080p resolutions as the game was for some reason locked at 720p.
For Final Fantasy XV, the game took a hit all over the place as many players report audio and stutter issues. The audio issue is an easy enough fix if you’re at least a little tech-savvy but the stutter issue is a conundrum. Multiple players and respected game reviewers have reported that the game stutters and drops frames massively sometimes despite there being only a single enemy on-screen. Even on high-end systems, this stutter issue seems consistent in making an appearance.
The game is mostly playable still but the stutter is rather annoying. So don’t worry about fretting over your PC specs not being able to support the game, it’s likely an issue with the game being badly optimised itself. There is a third party mod available for the game that fixes some of the stuttering made by the same guy who released a fix for the Nier: Automata display, so be sure to download that first before playing the game.
To summarise, Final Fantasy XV Windows Edition does have an edge over its original console release with the addition of its DLCs as well as mod support. However, the lacklustre port might not make it worthwhile to purchase this on PC if you already have it on a console. If you must buy this game, do wait for a sale.
The gameplay is much smoother as you now have more extensive control over your movement as the keyboard controls gets mapped fairly well but stutter issues might make this a moot point on mid-range PC gaming systems. The game, however, does come with a free 4k resolution pack that I didn’t get to try and I’m afraid to say that it’s probably room for more stutter issues on the PC. If you’re willing to sit through the stutter, go ahead and purchase this game on sale, otherwise wait for Square Enix to bring out an update that fixes any of those issues.
I give this game a