Dawntrail Graphics Update - Feedback on changes to the world's aesthetic and feel

[lunartears]

Many of us are currently very busy with opinions regarding character models, but I would like to begin discussion on another aspect of the graphics update. This relates to how the world now looks.

In my very limited time exploring the newly updated world, I have began to notice that previous areas do not carry the same essence as before. Prior to the release of 7.0, I had already began to worry about this. I first began to worry when Il Mheg's new version was shown and it appeared notably saturated compared to the old version and then my worries were further grown during a previous PLL where the graphics update was previewed in The Lost City of Amdapor and the dungeon appeared visually pinker instead of blue. In Dawntrail with each new duty or room I revisit, I notice that areas do not feel the same.

Due to the graphics update, a lot of the lighting has changed and in some circumstances it looks like the original lighting that once brought identity to some places in the world is missing and is instead too neutral, too bright or too dark. In most places, it's not so bad, but some places (The Labyrinth of the Ancients and player housing for example) it's noticeable. Another aspect I can't help but repeatedly notice is also how dark the ground looks everywhere (Mare Lamentorum isn't a light grey anymore).

Now, I understand that of course lighting is going to change to an extent with a graphical overhaul but I feel that things like ambient lighting shouldn't end up removed during the process. The feeling of an environment is very reliant on the way that colour and lighting is portrayed and the lack thereof or overexposure can feel very strange. It can also be seen on the player character where in some places they will appear unaffected by lighting.

Another thing that I have noticed is how some textures look washed out or dirty now. The crystals in Mor Dhona are an example that come to mind. When comparing the two they do not look like the same texture so it appears to be delibrate. Likewise, the same washed out feeling with the new aetheryte texture, it used to look magical but now it feels plain.

I also feel like the reflectiveness of floors and the shine of the new metal textures is too strong and looks out of place compared to its surroundings. Some metals that were previously brass/bronze are now a shiny gold and I don't understand why that level of change was made. I'm not sure if this is an attempt at "realism" or not but in some cases it doesn't really suit the world.

I feel that the new lighting system could do with some adjustments, and would request that things could be more diverse as they were before.

I would also like to mention that I feel the new fog system doesn't suit certain areas and looks too thick. I think a graphics setting to control fog thickness would be a good idea.

Generally, I request to please consider modifying areas of the world to appear more closely to their original counterparts.

I apologise if I come across as very nit-picky, I admit that I do prefer the original game graphics much more than the updated version (I feel that a graphics "upgrade" is a very subjective matter) but I am willing to adjust to most of the world's changes.

I also apologise for the lack of screenshots as I forgot to prepare any to compare to Dawntrail (and anything that I could share is entirely covered in UI and character names).

[Iscah]

I haven't looked around the old areas much yet, and what I did see was while I was still stuck on the PS4 version while the PS5 version downloaded, but I'm not really happy with what I've seen.

In particular, reflectiveness on floors feels like a "look at me and how realistically shiny I am" thing rather than serving the location as a whole. It stands out when entering the shop building in Idyllshire and at the Drowning Wench; I don't think I've been to other old places yet, but there's a similar thing at the palace in Tuliyollal as well.

Metal textures are feeling overly realistic as well. I liked the stylised vibe before, and never doubted that the metal things were metallic. But the game seems to be going for realism now.

One particular issue I found with reflectiveness was that I finished off the Endwalker tank quests and overall role quest finale after the update, and Kan-E-Senna's necklace is distractingly shiny at some angles.

[Iscah]

On a second look, I think the floor reflections may be reflecting imaginary lights that aren't actually there.

I warped to the Aftcastle, was crossing the bridge to the Drowning Wench, and could see a weird reflection on the bridge that I couldn't attribute to anything except the aetheryte in the plaza below - which should not be able to cast a reflection, being physically below the location in 3D space even if visually above it on the 2D screen, and in any case it was a strange offset angle and didn't seem to be making sense.

Then in the Wench itself, there's a very conspicuous white light "object" reflected in the floor near the inn counter, but the object does not exist in the room above it.

So that set me back to checking the other locations I'd noticed before. Idyllshire also seems to be reflecting things that don't exist, or possibly is overblowing the reflection of small lights like Lalah's desk lantern on the left (if you've done the sage quests). But it looks more like a larger and cooler light being reflected from somewhere off to the left.

As for the palace, it's not as dark in there as I remembered it being (I'll blame the PS4 version for that) but now that I've been prompted to look at it critically, the light sources feel off. I was already feeling that, but now I can say why: the lighting in the room, particularly the shadows cast from pillars onto the walls, suggests that I should expect a warm light source floating somewhere above the staircase, but the visible light sources are white skylights in the roof, and the reflections on the floor are white light - and even then, the reflections don't line up with the light sources. Stand in the middle of the room and rotate the camera, and you'll see that there are just sort of arbitrary reflections coming from the west and south corners and the northeast side of the room, and nothing nearby to cast them. (I'm testing this in the mid-morning, if the time of day makes any difference for replicating t.)

So I have to conclude that they haven't just made the tiles realistically shiny but have deliberately inserted weird lights to ensure that you see the shinyness of the tiles every time you go near them.

I think it's giving the environmental equivalent of the uncanny valley effect - instead of being an acceptable illustration of reality, it's now trying to be more realistic and is getting it wrong, so you notice the wrongness where there wasn't an issue before.


Edit to add: The palace skylights don't seem to cast any sort of direct patch of light onto the floor, either, and when I went to the upstairs area to check that part, I've found even more mismatched lighting. The reflections on the tiles here tell me I should see a row of hanging lantern-lights on the ceiling above, but the only thing above is one of the skylights.

[lunartears]

I haven't looked around the old areas much yet, and what I did see was while I was still stuck on the PS4 version while the PS5 version downloaded, but I'm not really happy with what I've seen.

In particular, reflectiveness on floors feels like a "look at me and how realistically shiny I am" thing rather than serving the location as a whole. It stands out when entering the shop building in Idyllshire and at the Drowning Wench; I don't think I've been to other old places yet, but there's a similar thing at the palace in Tuliyollal as well.

Metal textures are feeling overly realistic as well. I liked the stylised vibe before, and never doubted that the metal things were metallic. But the game seems to be going for realism now.

One particular issue I found with reflectiveness was that I finished off the Endwalker tank quests and overall role quest finale after the update, and Kan-E-Senna's necklace is distractingly shiny at some angles.

I omitted it from my main post but I feel the same way regarding metals and reflections. It feels weird to have perfect shiny metal and perfectly reflective floors. Some of the metals have actually changed from bronzes to golds.

[Merton9999]

I'll be frank, pre-DT areas look terrible due to this graphics update. I don't mean a difference I can get used to eventually, but simply harsh and ugly.

Taking Idyllshire, as mentioned, it is now overly contrasted with light glaring on stone floors and roofs where it makes absolutely no sense to be. I'm getting blinded just moving the camera around by the glare from the stone path... in the rain. The wood and metal around the aetheryte are even more extreme.

Housing results from this update are oddly different, but worse. There is an overall washed out brightness to dimly lit rooms that minimizes custom light sources now. Brightly lit rooms now have an ugly dust haze that makes it look like the room is covered in dirt. Material effects are gone from most objects so that (unlike Idyllshire) metal and marble floors actually look like cardboard with no reflective quality at all. Shadows are harsh amd jagged.

If this is the new normal I'll never enter my house again, it's so revolting. Hundreds of millions of gil wasted and hundreds of dollars wasted in the cash shop. My rooms now look flat, dull and hazy. It feels like someone came into the real home I spent years decorating and threw mud on everything.

[Granyala]

Housing results from this update are oddly different, but worse. There is an overall washed out brightness to dimly lit rooms that minimizes custom light sources now.

This is my biggest complaint about the GFX update so far. I have the black marble floors but they now look weirdly yellow-ish and way too bright.
As someone that prefers dimly lit spaces (Keeper, after all) this sucks.

[SongOfTheWind]

Old areas looking terrible is especially appalling, as this graphical update was meant to attract new players (lets face it - who really cared among existing ones enough to quit over it?) - and now they are going to be stuck with ugly for 5 expansions. Where is the logic in it?
And based on how our characters turned out - I personally don’t have much faith that those areas will truly get their artistic vision restored even with more iterations.

[Reimmi]

I'll add my own feedback- every zone i've gone back to looks better with the new lighting and grass options. Not run into any downgrades yet

[Merton9999]

Old areas looking terrible is especially appalling, as this graphical update was meant to attract new players (lets face it - who really cared among existing ones enough to quit over it?) - and now they are going to be stuck with ugly for 5 expansions. Where is the logic in it?
And based on how our characters turned out - I personally don’t have much faith that those areas will truly get their artistic vision restored even with more iterations.

This is why the update is so confusing to me too. XIV's appeal to me is primarily having a beautiful environment to interact with friends in. The gameplay isn't engaging to me personally. Thankfully the music is still exceptional, but the game is no longer beautiful to look at in pre-DT areas. It's actually appaling.

[Khryseis_Astra]

This is why the update is so confusing to me too. XIV's appeal to me is primarily having a beautiful environment to interact with friends in. The gameplay isn't engaging to me personally. Thankfully the music is still exceptional, but the game is no longer beautiful to look at in pre-DT areas. It's actually appaling.

I feel the same way… I always thought the graphics were great for such an old game! New zones look great, but the old places have suffered for it. Is updating the old zones one of their projects to work on over the patches, or is this really the way things are going to look now? I think I remember them saying they weren’t updating any textures and such in housing at this time, but there’s something so wrong with this lighting inside. 0 used to be total darkness, and it looks about mid-level brightness from before.