Tech Analysis: Final Fantasy 15 Episode Duscae

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Square-Enix's last generation Crystal Tools engine came and went with only four games to its name before being put to pasture - so when it was announced that the publisher would be switching to Unreal Engine 4 for new projects we were left wondering just what would become of their next-generation Luminous Studio. For the time being, at least, the answer is Final Fantasy 15 - the only announced title being created with this new in-house middleware solution. The team responsible for this new toolset is working closely with the game development team in order to deliver the most technically ambitious in-house game the Japanese publisher has ever produced. In a move recalling Square's glory days on the original PlayStation, the publisher has bundled a special demo version of Final Fantasy 15 known as Episode Duscae with another product, giving us our first hands-on with this ambitious new title.
However, prior to the launch of the demo, the director of the game cautioned that the build was still in its early stages and does not represent the final level of performance or visual quality planned for the final release. Of course, unlike most demos released in this day and age, Final Fantasy 15 really does have a significant amount of time left in development, making Episode Duscae more of a sneak peak than a typical demo. Keeping that in mind, and always eager to get our hands on a brand new engine, we jumped in to see if the director's warning holds weight.
As expected, it's immediately apparent that we're looking at a sub-1080p presentation here. We peg the PlayStation 4 version at 1600x900 while the Xbox One version turns in an even lower 1408x792. Both versions show plenty of aliasing in select conditions but, on the whole, the game's more natural environments appear surprisingly clean with a strong depth of field effect helping to keep shimmering at bay. Edge-smoothing is rather inconsistent, however, with certain elements lacking any sort of anti-aliasing coverage at all. There's no doubt that the game will benefit greatly from a bump up to full 1080p.
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