Benchmark/Graphics Update - Show your WoL's before and after

[DiaDeem]

It is absolutely INSANE how massive the upgrade we're getting actually is.

This has completely blown my expectations out of the water. We're going from horribly lit low res dead dolls, to characters that actually feel ALIVE.

You guys have no idea how happy it makes me to see light behave like light. I absolutely despise how hideous and unnatural indoors shadows have always looked since ARR, but no longer.


Shadows finally behave like real shadows. Skin is reflecting and refracting light, it finally looks like actual skin and the game engine FINALLY understands how to do proper contrast. There's no reason why shadows should be so dark when you're under direct sunlight as it was before. You can even see lovely hues of pink mixing with the shadows on the left side of the face, under the eye and cheeks.


Just to further drive the point home, I'll post my alt as well.

The horrendous low res hair is gone, the hairline no longer looks like clay, the eyes are finally interacting with light naturally instead of looking like unfinished PS3 graphics (which is literally what they've been for the past decade) and again: I can't begin to explain how beautiful the new lighting looks. Shadowbringers has a ton of scenes in the Occular, and I always abhorred how freaking horrible the lighting made faces look in those cutscenes, and you can see that in the comparison below. I can't tell people what to like and what to dislike, but I legitimately can't understand in what world or universe the horrendous character on the left is considered better than what I'm looking on the right.


I hardly ever think so highly of things SE has done with XIV, but from just the previews, I didn't think they could make characters look this good. If any dev is reading this: Thank you, you've done an absolutely amazing job.

I also think you guys have wonderful looking characters, seriously.