can someone explain the whole 1.0 graphics > 2.0?

[Kietsu]

1.0's extreme bloom definitely worked well for the Garuda intro, I can agree there. Lack of self-shadowing in 2.0's half of the video was really noticeable too - mayhaps the DX11 update will bring that back in?

[kyuven]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_R56msMZW8

I'm looking at those two side by side and i get an odd feeling...
Sure it seems like the 1.0 Garuda had more detail (sometimes an unnecessary amount, such as the feathers descending with her in the very beginning) but the 2.0 Garuda feels like she has more impact, more "punch" and power. Garuda 1.0's "power" seems to be what's flowing around her, the wind and the feathers, which are very pretty, but feel like they lack the force they should have. It feels like I'm watching a movie of a windstorm behind her rather than feeling it. 2.0's garuda's power seems to be coming from herself.
Kind of a fitting example, really. 1.0 was pretty and detailed, but lacked the "oomph." ARR is "less" pretty (yet still one of the prettiest MMOs in existence) but has a lot more "oomph" to it.
I remember my biggest complaint about 1.0 was how every attack seemed to take time to perform, then return to the default position. And that if I didn't save up a LOT of money or dive into ALL OF THE CRAFTS, I wouldn't be able to get a new weapon for a long time.
Then I saw ARR, where the attacks hit in rapid succession as part of combos. And then I played the beta, where my reward for doing a lancer quest was...
a new spear!
YAY!

[Talia_Hailwind]

I spent so much time trying to defeat Garuda back in 1.0 that I started to appreciate and love the opening scene for the fight. When I saw the same scene in ARR I was totally dissapointed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_R56msMZW8

I'm still angry about it lol

The 1.0 garuda looked like a wax figure, more detailed (a little too detailed) and really shiny, can't put my finger on it but it reminded me of FF8 cutscene graphics for some reason.

[MageBlack]

Isn't it the same voice actor? I believe all scions reprise their role from 1.xx. Minfilia and Urianger did not have voice actors in 1.xx.

1.0 Voice @ 2:45

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXNLGvEznvY

2.0 @ 3:20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmtkxpOMF7E

They do not sound the same, at least not to me. 1.0 sounds like the fox guy with the bombs in the Slayers Series and 2.0 sounds different. You be the judge! (I cant find a Voice actor list for 1.0 and 2.0, only 2.0.)

[Kiara]

Hi Ezra,

As others have said, some things in 1.0 blow away what's in 2.0, but it's hard to see at first on some of these Youtube videos.

If you had your settings on PC at max in 1.0, you could really notice a lot of things better. Things like Armor / Textures (you could ZOOM all the way in on your character and see super-high-detailed textures for your Armor (like the details on a Haubergeon Body Piece) vs. in 2.0, zooming in, you can clearly see textures pixelate / can't hold up).

Character Models also had higher poly counts.

Animations were smoother and better (look at Dragoon's Chaos Thrust in 1.0 vs. 2.0's truncated version).

However, 2.0's Lighting Effects and VFX especially really blow away 1.0. The World Environments are leagues ahead as well (1.0's The Black Shroud full of Copy & Paste "tunnels" was an embarrassment). I love the world in 2.0 (too bad Yoshi P underutilizes it (there's no need to level out in the world / EXP Camp)).

In 1.0, anyone remember the Visual FX (or complete lack thereof) for Ancient Magic? LOLOL.

2.0 has better lighting effects and polish and VFX and a more colorful, vibrant color palette, (and far better UI Polish, Level 1 - 50 experience for a new player, etc.). So it's hard to look past that to see what you're missing from 1.0, but if you ever found HD Videos (w/ the user's settings set to Max) perhaps you could see some of the things people are talking about here.

Hopefully DX11 and 3.0 help bring back some more finer details / polish.

[Gramul]

I really need to make some fidelity comparison screenshots.
1.0 had:
-higher polycount.
-higher resolution textures.
-higher resolution displacement maps.
-natural looking light sources.
-better specular detailing(better metals and subtle reflections on specific materials)
-depth of field.
-animation blending for naturalistic movement.
-transition lighting effects.

[Terin]

In all honesty, the difference isn't *staggering* or anything, but the camera work definitely looks nicer, and there seem to be more fluid animations.

I've not seen enough of 1.0 to say if it's better or worse, but I've actually been quite pleased with the voice-acting of 2.0. And yeah, given how much content they've been pushing out, I understand they can't give every cutscene the amount of TLC shown in some of the 1.0 cutscenes, but hopefully they'll be able to do more in 3.0 for those big story-moments, as well as Hildibrand (which I would be shocked -- SHOCKED I say -- if they didn't continue).

[Tayolynn]

In my eyes, it's clear as day on how to make 2.0 cutscenes so much better. Give them more goddamn animation life. Seriously, I never played 1.0, and just by watching one cutscene, I already love it because of the life that everyone and everything has. Their faces, their movements, the cutscene structure, your character actually has life and feel to it. I wouldn't care about their voices or their lighting. Just get their animation together and it'll be spectacular. Your character actually look like a bloody iconic hero in all the land.

The 2.0 main story characters voice quality doesn't match a stiff robotic animation with an overly dramatic face. I don't feel like a hero when all I do is stand, pivot, smile, nod... stand, pivot, smile, nod... the whole way through. When all I see is, this, all I can feel is how much of a computerized robotic figurine I am, only having motions selected from the emote list rather than having any unique effort in cutscenes. This is why I enjoy Hildibrand cutscenes a few notches more than the main story.

So much above-and-beyond potential, wasted.

[Warlyx]

skill/spells effects WERE WAAAAYY BETTER

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OA6i0RuBAY

[TheRogueX]

skill/spells effects WERE WAAAAYY BETTER

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OA6i0RuBAY

The only thing I didn't like about the animations in 1.0 were the no-weapon casting for the DoM classes. They at least needed some sort of 'in-combat' ready pose even without the weapon drawn, because otherwise they just looked like they were standing around totally bored and disengaged from the violence going on around them.