Dawntrail Graphics Update - Eye Strain

[Astronis]

I have to agree. I came on today and it was causing eye strain right away. DLSS was on by default. I either have to have DLSS on or FSR, no middle ground, i do not want either, so having FSR on with TCSMAA edge smoothing on has made it better to look at, but if you have DLSS on they is noticeable blur. It is not a placebo effect as someone said, as my partner also had the same issue. It is not pleasant.

Does setting DLSS to only activate below 30 FPS help? In the benchmark, Always On DLSS is very blurry for me while setting it so it only activates under an FPS threshold I'll almost never reach leaves everything nice and crisp.

[Erinellza]

I either have to have DLSS on or FSR, no middle ground, i do not want either

This. One causes light/shadow stuttering and the other one makes everything blurry for me, I want to turn them off completely.

[Toontown]

first post on these forums to unfortunately agree with the people here having eye strain from this.

i use prism glasses and i haven't had issues with any game, or really anything at all, giving me eye strain ever since i got prisms a few years back. with this expac after only a little while of playing i noticed a slight headache, thought it might be a coincidence ... started doing the battle content and it turned into a migraine, i had to stop playing - will try the suggested fix in the graphics settings tomorrow

there's a lot of people who just can't handle the constant motion blurring and i doubt this is intentional at all. i don't wanna be barred out of playing for multiple hours (i raid) bc the new graphics are killing my eyes.

[AnnieJu]

Adding my support to being able to downgrade the graphics.

[Taku14]

Please let us turn off Glare again. There are so many dungeons and maps that now give me a headache because of the bloom effect. Some of the maps that are beautiful during the day are nightmares to exist in at night too because of this.

[meredactyl]

This is my first post on the forum. There are 37 pages here and I apologize if this specific concern has already been brought up or addressed.

I have been enjoying Dawntrail overall and am blown away by most of the graphics update changes. The fog and cloud effects, especially, are breathtaking. The updates have improved my experience with the game for the most part, with one glaring (pun not intended) exception: some zones or instanced areas immediately give me headaches due to eye strain. Specifically, the problem is worst in the level 97 MSQ dungeon, the level 100 MSQ dungeon, and at times in the fifth overworld zone (with the lightning sky).

In the area of the 97 dungeon from the second boss fight (which itself is eye-strain-inducing) through to the last fight, the glare is so intense that I cannot see enemy groups or their attacks. I target blindly and follow my party members to the best of my ability. The bright, glowing floor is an enormous challenge and a serious deterrent towards my ability to replay this area. In earlier dungeons such as Vanaspati, I am able to point my camera away from the glare to minimize the detrimental effect; however, since the glow is in the floor in the level 97 dungeon, this solution is not possible.

Similarly, in the level 100 dungeon, the area with flickering lighting and camera shaking gave me a headache and caused significant eyestrain. I have only played through this instanced area one time. Its effects, as well as the flashing/flickering sky in the fifth overworld zone, remind me of the similar effects in Endwalker's Dead Ends dungeon. In both areas, the flashing/flickering (and their effects as I play) leave me reluctant to return for additional exploration, practice, and duty completion.

Is it possible to add a setting to disable flickering/flashing/strobe effects, and a slider for glare/bloom?

I understand that these visual effects add to the immersion and overall atmosphere of a given instance or overworld area. I hope that players who do not experience eye strain will be able to continue to enjoy them! But I also hope that there is some way for the accessibility settings to reflect this important adjustment so that I, and other players who experience eye strain (or other, more serious effects of photosensitivity) can continue to enjoy playing the game we love so much.

Thank you very much for your time and attention.

[AoifeAsturmaux]

I have been dealing with eye strain since release weekend, but I had previously chalked it up to playing two 16-hour days in a row during early access (not the smartest thing I've ever done...) coupled with running the AC all day and having an old glasses prescription. I saw a doctor after a week with no improvement, and ended up taking another week break from screens entirely to try to recover. I'm still not completely better and have to limit the time I spend on games (and screens generally).

I'm preeeetty sure my injury was mostly just from playing too long that first weekend, but if there's something about the new graphics that could be contributing, I wouldn't be surprised either. I spend a LOT of time at screens normally since I use a computer for most of my work & hobbies, and I've never had eyestrain this bad until now.

Even if mine wasn't directly caused by the graphics, I figured I'd add my voice to the thread anyway. I remember getting eye strain from Tower at Paradigm's breach when that first launched too (though I was playing on a much larger and brighter screen at the time; it was much more manageable after I swapped to a laptop)

[kokuou_ji]

adding my support to this thread as well-- so far the final areas and dungeons/trials of Dawntrail have been the only ones that have made me stop being able to play the game to rest my eyes and head. the final trial, zone (before finishing each leynode), and dungeon especially gave me excessive nausea and migraine-like headaches. i imagine a lot of it has to do with the flashing lights and highly saturated contrasting color palettes. the raids are some of the first i've just not been wanting to play more than once, and it isn't from a mechanics standpoint, but a visual one.

having an option to mitigate more than just party vfx, change saturation, and/or adjust brightness ingame would likely help a lot of people. i understand that the team worked very hard on the visual effects in this expansion and having them changed might feel insulting to the work put in, but i believe that this thread and the widespread health and accessibility concerns the end of this expansion has brought are worth consideration

[Nabril]

Really? Is this every single new game on the market or just Final Fantasy? Do you get eye strain in the real world? There are no sharper graphics than in the real world. It cannot be turned down. Or is it just final fantasy?

[gllt]

Really? Is this every single new game on the market or just Final Fantasy? Do you get eye strain in the real world? There are no sharper graphics than in the real world. It cannot be turned down. Or is it just final fantasy?

"Real world graphics" aren't comparable to how things are consumed on a screen. They aren't beamed into your eyes from a flat backlit surface.

I hope I don't sound argumentative, I'm just not sure what you're getting at exactly. Do you mind clarifying?