Dawntrail Graphics Update - Eye Strain

[Vesplume]

Finished the MSQ and wanted to compile a list of visual details that caused me eye strain, headaches and nausea (contains spoilers for the DT MSQ from lvl 96 onwards):

• Player's own battle effects (when set to "Full") are noticeably brighter and flash a lot more than in Endwalker.

• Enemies' battle effects (both single-target ones & raid wides) are noticeably brighter and flash a lot more than in Endwalker.

• All dungeons & battle instances from lvl 97 onwards feature enemies & environments with the lightning element. This means that all trash mobs and bosses use lots of flashing lightning attacks, and the dungeon environments have lots of flashing, bright spots in them, too.

• Solution 9 is a location that is really bad for the eyes: bright, sometimes flashing surfaces and lots of flickering (this is probably due to the fact that I'm playing the PS4 version on PS5 and can't fiddle with the anti-aliasing settings).

• The environmental lightning effect in the middle of the last dungeon made it really difficult to focus on the fights themselves.

• Worst offenders are the "particle effects" that signify that the computer programs related to Sphene are failing. These effects made the last dungeon & trial really painful to play.

Seconding this. The flashing in 97 stuff onwards is downright unplayable.

I wanted to add a few additional points in the game where flashing effects are a problem:

• Any thunderstorms in the Shroud and La Noscea. Even prior to DT I would avoid those zones during that weather.
• The last pull in Sirensong Sea.
• The second section of the Dead Ends.

[Klauth]

Seconding this. The flashing in 97 stuff onwards is downright unplayable.

I wanted to add a few additional points in the game where flashing effects are a problem:

• Any thunderstorms in the Shroud and La Noscea. Even prior to DT I would avoid those zones during that weather.
• The last pull in Sirensong Sea.
• The second section of the Dead Ends.

To follow up on problematic game instances (or the overall game experience).:

I just did Nabriales ARR Trial with the battle effects settings on limited for myself and the party, i also toned down the color vibrance of my GPU trying not to mute the color palette too much (in the end it didnt help with the light intensity).

The base luminosity of the game lighsources is way above of what it should be, almost like a stong LED light effect in some situations, and there is no way to "dim/brighten" it separately with a slider/option.
Even if i mess with my monitors settings or GPU control panel the game lightsources intensity cant be changed while preserving the rest of the image quality and brightness.
I dont know if this is an intentional change from SE to make the game feel more alive/realistic or if they tuned something horribly bad within the new lighting system, it didnt use to be this harsh.

This results in blinding sudden effects during encounters as you can see in the middle of the image, with the overwhelming whites contrasting with nabriales color effects and darkness around it. Also in the lower section, the pure bright light effect coming from the healer is much more intense than previous xpacs.

Now, i've tried to see if there was any difference between my two monitors, and in the main monitor is more noticeable, but even on the secondary monitor is overwhelming.
Main monitor -> LG 27" - 1440p - IPS
Secondary monitor -> LG 24" - 1080p - IPS
Both monitors are using the regular sRGB color coverage.





I also have this second image example with an intense lightsource coming from the ground at the start of a frontline match, it looks horrible, and makes me feel with nausea.