Final Fantasy XIV has been running on the same engine for over 10 years, it’s clearly overdue for a much-needed update. Excitingly, this is happening with the release of the newest expansion Dawntrail, but will players be able to run with the system requirements? Naoki Yoshida, Creative Director and Lead Producer, announced that the first major graphical update for the game was coming with the launch of the 5th expansion to the MMORPG in the keynotes from the Las Vegas Fan Fest. It’s addressing the overall picture, but not the aesthetic, which left the viewers concerned about how it would look.
The Update
Though we shouldn’t be expecting graphics like a stand-alone title, 10 years is a long time for graphic updates. That alone will make the system requirements jump if they’re modernizing it! What should we be expecting then? While Yoshida teased the standard Hyur with realistic lighting and skin, it turned out to be a fake. After a laugh, he showed the actual models. While not as impressive as the realistic version, the change is still incredible. Instead, the team is more focused on textures, shaders, and lighting. They’re hoping to make the existing environments and models much easier on the eyes.
The grass alone is a worthwhile update, adding more variation, detail, and density. The pixelated grass had bothered Yoshida for a long time, even saying it ruined some scenes for him. Amazingly, the upgraded will be able to produce procedurally generated grass making it look far more realistic. Not only will the Kamuys be rolling around in it, we’ll be expecting the player base to watch it grow all across Etheirys. Not exactly what most people meant when they said to touch grass.
Dawntrails new graphic updates
The glow-up of the game seemed to be coming together. The team put a lot of thought and effort into the lighting and character models. However, the materials are also getting a huge update. Cloth, metal, and leather are getting adjustments to make them look more realistic. Thus, further adding to the already hefty load of what the game is going to be playing on. This isn’t even counting the animation overhauls that are coming.
The new specs
Square Enix stated that not only are these improvements being tested, but other implementations like fog and ambient occlusion. While the game does need a huge update to survive another decade, will users with lower-end PCs be able to run it? Square Enix says that they don’t want to force players to upgrade, but surely with all these updates, someone will have to.
When Dawntrail drops, it’s recommended that you have an RTX 2060 graphics card, an i7-9700 CPU, and 16 gigabytes of RAM or higher. That is much higher than the minimum specs that the game currently requires. Will Square Enix have to cut back on its updates to keep its lower-spec players or will they upgrade their system to continue saving Eorzea? I guess it’s something that we’ll have to see play out.
Dawntrail’s system requirements
In Conclusion
The system requirements are a lot higher than the minimum specs that we knew. Technology has gotten better in those 10 years, and games have grew with it. Cyberpunk 2077 actually has higher minimum system requirements and people still loved it all the same. They’re both great games, but if you can’t spring for new hardware, try to save up to see how Endwalker raps up and grants us another journey in Etheirys and to tell that the Sqauare Enix team put so much love into the game.
For more official information, you can visit Square Enix’s Dawntrail page.
