Yoshi-P says discussions about FFXIV on Switch and Xbox One are "Positive"

[Neri]

I thought I saw the review on the Dragon Quest Warriors 2 or something on switch compared to ps4. The frame rate on the switch is worse compared to ps4, like the difference is quite obvious. Or is that just bad optimization?

[KisaiTenshi]

I thought I saw the review on the Dragon Quest Warriors 2 or something on switch compared to ps4. The frame rate on the switch is worse compared to ps4, like the difference is quite obvious. Or is that just bad optimization?

Don't conflate optimization with limitation.

The Switch is a weak system, but in different ways from the PS3. The PS4 is far more powerful than the Switch, but not even on the same tier as a gaming PC.

The Switch is designed for portability (as in, pick the thing up and move it room to room, take it on transit, etc), the PS4 is not, and there is no PC even capable of being that portable and not suck for gaming.

So a FFXIV designed for the Switch would likely be scaled back from the PS4 version, but console versions tend to go through an optimization pipeline so that for example, you're not sticking 4K textures on a device that doesn't do 4K. Since most stuff on the switch is essentially designed around a 720p60 output, they'd have to claw it back.

The real problem is that the system storage is not fast enough to play a game like FFXIV on it. Even if you were to buy a 128GB SD card for it, it would not be a SSD-like experience like on the PC. It might be faster than a mechanical drive in the PS4, but only by virtue of being Solid-state memory. However people don't know the difference between a class 10 card and a class 4 card, and such things make quite a substantial difference.

The XboxOne and PS4 are essentially identical devices, with a better GPU in the PS4 (non-pro), both use tools that can build games for the PC, so in reverse is not much of a stretch. The Switch is a completely different CPU, so what is optimal for a PS4 is likely not for the Switch. The ARM cpu's found in android devices (which is basically what the Switch is, hardware designed for Android without the Android OS) range from utter-rubbish, to the CPU's found in devices competing with Apple's products that are roughly on par with a rubbish laptop.

People are really quick to go "Square Enix doesn't optimize their games" , which is not really correct at all. Other than FFXI/FFXIV which are designed to run on the PC first, all their other games were designed for the PS1/PS2/PS3/PS4 first, and then ported to the PC, and compromises have to be made on the PC version so that it can run on PC's that aren't $2000 bleeding edge machines. Hence games like Neir:Automata, and FFXV which will make tiny defects in your GPU light up like a christmas tree. Those games might have room for more optimization, but they absolutely make high-end PC's cry, so trying to "optimize it" for a mid-tier PC or a rubbish-PC is impossible.

People will play MMORPG's on 500$ laptops, those laptops are so much worse than any console for games. Hence a "Switch" version would run circles around a laptop. So let's not write-off SE looking to get FFXIV onto the Switch.

But just the same, don't expect the PC experience on a console. A Switch version would be like running the game at 1280x720p on medium at best.