Dawntrail Graphics Update - Eye Strain

[Wind-Krysvein]

Bump for awareness

[Ainariel]

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.

[Wind-Krysvein]

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)

Many thanks for this! Unfortunately my own eye strain is far too severe for me to play through the remaining MSQ to figure out what my own list would look like.

Then again, the sharpness of the graphics themselves, along with the blurring and flickering effects, seems to be the main issue for me, so the list would probably be somewhat redundant anyway.

[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.

[LucisBlack]

Bump for awareness

Bump for a dead subject.

Pretty sure SE cares about as much as you do when it comes to replying to a legitimate request lmao.

Good luck getting this solved at this point mate. Doubt this is even on their radar since it doesn't affect their bottom line. SE (and most JP companies) only care about that all mighty dollar.

Since this thread hasn't been all that informative to begin with, this will be my last bump. I don't really care at this point. SE wins. Time to move on to games that don't visually look like trash. Peace and good luck!

[Wind-Krysvein]

Bump! Watch out for Gaelicats.

[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.

[Souljacker]

Bump for a dead subject.

Pretty sure SE cares about as much as you do when it comes to replying to a legitimate request lmao.

Good luck getting this solved at this point mate. Doubt this is even on their radar since it doesn't affect their bottom line. SE (and most JP companies) only care about that all mighty dollar.

Since this thread hasn't been all that informative to begin with, this will be my last bump. I don't really care at this point. SE wins. Time to move on to games that don't visually look like trash. Peace and good luck!

I struggle to understand how this overhaul helped 'the bottom line'. It didn't *need* an update, it's already light years ahead of anything else that's out there. Wow is trading on the same outdated look and feel since launch, little incremental updates here and there, but overall it still looks as shitty as it ever did but plays as great as it always has. SE didn't *need* to prioritize this, and it certainly seems like they thought it would carry the rest of the very weak presentation. In another thread someone posted that slide show when YoshiP was first brought on board that had a line about not being obsessed with flashy graphics. Someone needs to re-read that. I would much rather have had another 2 years of Endwalker graphics if it meant the budget could go pay better writers.

[Wind-Krysvein]

And bump goes the weasel.

For the new people just joining the thread: remember to send a support ticket to Square Enix's official tech support. The more people we have who voice their displeasure about the eye strain issues, the faster they'll fix the issue. At least in theory.

[MiaBlaze-Cari]

Well looks like they're actually addressing the issue given it's in the "confirmed/planning to address" section: https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...hics-Upscaling
Maybe I dont have to cancel my sub.