Ffxiv's Zones Looks Extremely Bad and Outdated

[Shougun]

GW2 is graphically pretty meh, and the vast majority of the zones are forgettable, but the Maguuma Jungle in the first expansion was bonkers. Most video game maps (especially MMO zones) are extremely flat, but in Maguuma it emphasized verticality. The maps were super tall jungles and caverns. You could jump from the top and spend a long time falling before you'd hit the bottom, and you'd pass through all these different layers of caves and jungle (sadly I couldn't find a video that really conveys just how multilayered the jungle is), and at any point you could unfold your glider. It was awesome! I was incredibly disappointed that they dropped the vertical map design (the second expansion's maps are incredibly flat and boring) and I'm surprised no other games borrowed from the Maguuma Jungle.

Those vireos already looked awesome, if it's better than that then nice! But yeah thoughts like this, clearly they spent time to get that area right, but it paid off for you, and I bet it paid off for many others. Maybe not conveying perfectly but my "terrain is a main character" statement is to me that... that element of making sure each area is a character with in some sort of thought you might describe a personality, desires, faults, and an extreme importance that it is communicated for the sake of the narrative. It's obviously a narrative that isn't as clear as perhaps having a literal npc, but one I still think is important to sometimes imagine like that. The jungle in that GW2 video is amazing, how you described it is amazing, just.. "nice!".

A game, honestly a company, that I think just always "gets it" in terms of that idea is FromSoft and their Souls/Souls related sort of work. Often they have little choice but to treat the environment like a main character because they choose to not spell the story out, and so if they didn't it would just.... not work.. lol.. but clearly a series that doesn't just make an environment. I've seen a lot of neat work by FFXIV and I suspect it's not a lack of getting it but perhaps not enough allotted time or resources (engine for example almost exploded in making Khoulsia), but with that said.. I still want them to strive to make each area scream "I'm also a main character, you can't think about the story and not think about me, it's impossible". Things looking pretty obviously can help but it's not that simple, as you said you don't even think GW2 is that pretty yet that jungle still has a place in your mind due to how it interacted with you.

So.. yes, exactly, yes lol. Also those videos were pretty cool ~

Make environments main characters, always! :3

[UNDEAD10000]

I must be blind when i think FFXIV zones looks really good for a 8 years old game (FFXIV ARR got released in 2013) and even today most zones in expansions still looks really good.

[ViolaLance]

This thread. Entirely.

[KizuyaKatogami]

This thread. Entirely.

Not really immersion persay for some of it. Just people expecting the game that’s made millions to have some kind of graphic improvement after 10 years

[Harlot]

I am sorry but you literally picked Best angles to pick final fantasy zones and the worst angles to pick Wow zones. These are probably the worst parts to take a pictures of Shadowlands zones. They look no where near to these pictures. Try to be fair next tjme

[Tarryme]

The maps are pretty basic in a quaint 90's way, and the textures or also very basic. BUT, the character models are excellent and that's what really counts. As long as we look glam who cares to much about texture quality?

[Gabadabs]

Not really immersion persay for some of it. Just people expecting the game that’s made millions to have some kind of graphic improvement after 10 years

But from a technical level it's just *not* that simple. When you're working on a, what, decade old engine? You can't just infinitely redo the engine in an MMO where people have LOTS of data and progress that needs to be kept intact. You'll hit diminishing returns and end up where we are now.

[Theodric]

The maps are pretty basic in a quaint 90's way, and the textures or also very basic. BUT, the character models are excellent and that's what really counts. As long as we look glam who cares to much about texture quality?

Eh, even the character models are pretty dated at this point. Very stiff in some ways.

Elves are typically one of the most popular picks in any fantasy game where they are present, for example. Hardly anyone plays them in FFXIV, though - because of weird proportions and rigid animations.

Equally, my Highlander alt looks less detailed than some of the housing furniture that has been added in recent months/years. A random example would be the pixie apple basket furnishing.

Many other MMO's have taken steps to overhaul their textures and character models to compensate for the effects of time and aging. FFXIV is one of the few major MMO's to drag its feet.

[Fellgon]

Ultima online is outdated! FF14 in my PS4 and Pc looks Just like any other game so far, but i know that in ps5 its looks better.

[KizuyaKatogami]

The maps are pretty basic in a quaint 90's way, and the textures or also very basic. BUT, the character models are excellent and that's what really counts. As long as we look glam who cares to much about texture quality?

Character models are excellent? Did you not see the Graha pic i posted earlier lol.The horrible textures arent even limited to just zones either. Look at Hien's attire, its horrible.

But from a technical level it's just *not* that simple. When you're working on a, what, decade old engine? You can't just infinitely redo the engine in an MMO where people have LOTS of data and progress that needs to be kept intact. You'll hit diminishing returns and end up where we are now.

Okay but heres the thing. Numerous other mmo's including WoW which is also fairly old, has done revamps and overhauls. 14, which people are claiming lately as the best mmo rn and beat WoW, still has not even made an effort towards that. It's going to have been 12 years of nothing done to character customization and graphics. With how much money the mmo makes, you'd think we'd be seeing something. Especially seeing as to how other mmo's have been able to manage it.