People complained and Square Enix listened.
Less than a week after releasing its latest game, the Japanese gaming giant has finally responded to player feedback regarding the Performance Mode in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.
The GOTY frontrunner’s director, Naoki Hamaguchi, was in the Philippines attending FF7 Rebirth’s launch event over the weekend where he confirmed in an interview with a local outlet, One More Game, that the development team is well aware of the graphical plight plaguing the sequel. Hamaguchi is reassuring fans that a patch aimed at improving the visuals is on its way. Specifically, the upcoming update will address issues related to character facial lighting, among others.
Since FF7 Rebirth launched on February 29, audiences have enjoyed the expansive and visually stunning world that Square Enix has crafted. However, some have reported that while playing in Performance Mode, which targets 60 frames per second for a smoother gameplay experience, they’ve encountered a significant reduction in visual clarity and detail.
Hamaguchi highlighted that one of the key areas of focus for the upcoming update is the lighting on characters’ faces. Players report instances where the lighting conditions cause shadows on character faces to appear overly harsh or unnatural, detracting from the otherwise immersive experience.
While the Quality Mode of FF7 Rebirth offers stunning visuals at the expense of a lower frame rate, many players prefer Performance Mode for its fluidity, especially during the game’s more action-packed sequences. The game’s upcoming update aims to ensure that players don’t have to compromise on visual quality for performance, striving to offer the best of both worlds.
This isn’t the first time Square Enix has acted swiftly in response to the player feedback regarding FF7 Rebirth. Prior to the game’s release, the developer issued a patch to fix a handful of minor graphical issues and other concerns raised ahead of its release following the game’s first of two demo phases.
Outside of the minor gripes, FF7 Rebirth has garnered widespread acclaim for its story, intricate gameplay mechanics, and breathtaking visuals, establishing it as one of the highest-rated games of the year.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will remain exclusive to PlayStation 5 for three months post-launch. A PC port is likely coming but only after Final Fantasy 16 becomes available on the master race. It remains unclear if FF7 Rebirth will be available to play on Xbox but it’s worth noting that the first game, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, remains exclusive to PlayStation and PC four years after it was released.
