Ffxiv's Zones Looks Extremely Bad and Outdated

[TeraRamis]

My only complaint with the zones - especially cities - is that they are far too clean - ranging from spartan to downright sterile. Limsa Lominsa is a pirate town; it should look, in most places, like a complete sewer. Instead, it's as shiny and barren as an intensive care ward.

[HollowedDoll]

Kinda ironic thing to say as a wow refugee ngl.

[Theodric]

Kinda ironic thing to say as a wow refugee ngl.

I disagree. There's a lot of love and care put into the zones in both WoW and ESO that simply isn't present in FFXIV.

For years, I've seen requests about making FFXIV's game world look and feel better to explore - but the bulk of relevance is always in the initial MSQ's and then entire zones are left largely irrelevant after their initial exploration.

Whereas WoW might bring you back to older zones by having a new threat show up and launch an attack that changes the landscape and ESO is constantly adding new features that retroactively apply to older zones such as archaelogy...FFXIV simply isn't particularly bold when it comes to its open world.

If anything, it has slid backwards in some regards. Remember Aleport? You can practically enter every building in many ARR settlements. You can't in later expansion settlements as they're sealed off - which is weird, given the huge amount of role-players that the game has attracted.

Furthermore, a lot of us came over from WoW long before the recent influx. Personally I think it's great to see more players from another MMO showing up and comparing what FFXIV does well and what it does not.

Blind worship of a product rarely ends well, after all.

[HollowedDoll]

I disagree. There's a lot of love and care put into the zones in both WoW and ESO that simply isn't present in FFXIV.

For years, I've seen requests about making FFXIV's game world look and feel better to explore - but the bulk of relevance is always in the initial MSQ's and then entire zones are left largely irrelevant after their initial exploration.

Whereas WoW might bring you back to older zones by having a new threat show up and launch an attack that changes the landscape and ESO is constantly adding new features that retroactively apply to older zones such as archaelogy...FFXIV simply isn't particularly bold when it comes to its open world.

If anything, it has slid backwards in some regards. Remember Aleport? You can practically enter every building in many ARR settlements. You can't in later expansion settlements as they're sealed off - which is weird, given the huge amount of role-players that the game has attracted.

Half the game literally doesn't fit with the characters anymore, and have you seen how detailed outland is? I do agree that ARR maps were better than HW and SB maps (especially around gridania), but things are getting better since SHB.

PS: I say this as someone who has played wow, so it's not blind worship.

[Theodric]

Half the game literally doesn't fit with the characters anymore, and have you seen how detailed outland is? I do agree that ARR maps were better than HW and SB maps (especially around gridania), but things are getting better since SHB.

The older zones are certainly dated in both games, though to be fair Blizzard have always gone back and improved various textures and models throughout the game's lifespan. I remember enemies such as the Naga, for example, getting completely new models.

ESO, meanwhile, recently released some texture improvements to make the game world look more immersive.

That's something I'd like to see happen in FFXIV as well. Whether it happens remains to be seen, though the subject has a been a bit more optimistic of late when it comes to interviews.

[HollowedDoll]

The older zones are certainly dated in both games, though to be fair Blizzard have always gone back and improved various textures and models throughout the game's lifespan. I remember enemies such as the Naga, for example, getting completely new models.

ESO, meanwhile, recently released some texture improvements to make the game world look more immersive.

That's something I'd like to see happen in FFXIV as well. Whether it happens remains to be seen, though the subject has a been a bit more optimistic of late when it comes to interviews.

What I'm saying is that anything pre MoP or even WoD having higher polygon stuff sticks out like a sore thumb, and to be honest FFXIV really needs some texture improvements, like all around.

[KizuyaKatogami]

What I'm saying is that anything pre MoP or even WoD having higher polygon stuff sticks out like a sore thumb, and to be honest FFXIV really needs some texture improvements, like all around.

Never played WoW but i just want to say, it’s pretty sad that 8 years after being out, a piece of bread has better textures than a major msq characters whose textures look like ps2 graphics… it’s not even just zones at this point, it’s everything period. Zone wise though, the only place i thought looked good was like someone else said, a certain underwater area. Il mheg was just too bright and pink used to cover up the lackluster textures, raktika kind of has the same issue as well. I didn’t really see much of an improvement from past expansion zones.

[HollowedDoll]

Never played WoW but i just want to say, it’s pretty sad that 8 years after being out, a piece of bread has better textures than a major msq characters whose textures look like ps2 graphics… it’s not even just zones at this point, it’s everything period. Zone wise though, the only place i thought looked good was like someone else said, a certain underwater area. Il mheg was just too bright and pink used to cover up the lackluster textures, raktika kind of has the same issue as well. I didn’t really see much of an improvement from past expansion zones.

Lack of PS2 mountains is a thing.

[Gabadabs]

First of all hi everyone. I have been playing ffxiv for few months now, i am a WoW refuge and firstly let me tell you this. I am enjoying every second of it. Specially my class(Black mage), trials and dungeons. And see, thats the thing.

When it comes to trials, dungeons(for example dohn mehg), raids, character models, primal models, animations everything looks wholesome, beautiful, and exciting. But when it comes to zones... Like i can't convince myself that dohn megh, lakshmi and these zones belongs to the same game

Zones looks ugly, dull, extremely empty and dead. They looking like they came out of a game released in 2004 like Metin2. Even few zones in Metin2 looked better then the zones in final fantasy xiv.

There is almost no grass, no detail, no air partical, no shine, textures are ugly and getting uglier and uglier every expansion. Its just they are huge empty, zero detailed places. And strange enough situations gets worst and worst every expansion. In arr there are zones that looked quite good in my opinion. But when it comes to shadowbringers or stormblood... I can become no where close to say the same thing. Specially few zones in stormblood i straight up feel like i am walking on the mars. It is that empty, dull and ugly. Like i don't understand. Like i am looking at the trials, character models, dungeons and there is nothing wrong. Like skill animations are what this game is best known for. But when it comes to zones its like a different game. Thats why i hate doing quests sometimes. Because zones looking so insanely ugly i often feel like i am playing a extremely outdated game.

I think zones need more air particles, shine, detail, more life, and specially more grass, more grass and more graas cause like there is none. So far i am seeing that final fantasy did everything rigth that wow couldn't. But when it comes to zones i can't say the same thing. Take shadowlands zones as an example. Look at ardenweald, bastion. Sometimes i wanna go back to playing wow just because of bastion and bastion only. Because they are that good looking. I wish the same thing would go for final fantasy but the art team that does rest of the things good doesn't seem like putting the same efford into the zones. Cause they be looking like they created them in one hour with the laziest mentality.

I always felt like the game had a very... stiff and plastic look to it. The models, textures, lighting, etc. are all quite nice, and the actual designs of the zones are super cool with lots to look at. But everything looks like plastic, somehow. Stiff animations don't help, it feels like a bunch of toys cobbled together -- high quality, pretty toys, but toys nonetheless.There are amazing scenes and landmarks that just aren't being done justice IMO. Characters, at least, look really really good.

[TeraRamis]

The older zones are certainly dated in both games, though to be fair Blizzard have always gone back and improved various textures and models throughout the game's lifespan. I remember enemies such as the Naga, for example, getting completely new models.

ESO, meanwhile, recently released some texture improvements to make the game world look more immersive.

That's something I'd like to see happen in FFXIV as well. Whether it happens remains to be seen, though the subject has a been a bit more optimistic of late when it comes to interviews.

Here's the thing about WoW (which I think you're hitting on): they've always - even from the very start - been extremely focused around vignette, or scene-style, zone design. The idea is that, no matter where you stand in a given region of the game, you're overlooking-and-a-part of some small 'story' that's being told somewhere; an old, haunted barn; the edge of a canyon with an abandoned mine in it; a beach with a haunted lighthouse; a broken-down keep destroyed in an ancient battle. There are also even smaller scenes-within-a-scene, like little sheds full of tools (and perhaps a random skull), or an outhouse with a door cracked half open. It doesn't matter that there are no actual stories associated with much of this filler; it's the implication that they have their own little narratives and tales to tell that makes the world feel lived-in.

Whatever praise I can heap on FFXIV - which is substantial - for its lightning, dynamic weather (especially thunderstorms and wind), amazing housing interiors (not so much the developments, which again feel sterilized), music, etc. - WoW (even the oldest of zones) completely destroys this game when it comes to the essential quality of making an area feel like it is a part of a living world (especially now that FATE-grinding parties have basically vanished from the 1-60 zones, thus depriving FFXIV of the one inherent leg-up it had on WoW in terms of making the world feel lived-in: big mobs of player characters running all over the place).