Digital Foundry: 360 version of Final Fantasy XIII 'adequate but a touch disappointing'

by Griffin McElroy on Mar 5th 2010 9:15PM

So, you read our review of Final Fantasy XIII and are prepared to pick it up next week, but you're not sure which version to buy? If you're basing your decision on graphical fidelity, the A/V experts from Eurogamer's Digital Foundry suggest you go with the PS3 version of the game -- as seen in their quartet of video comparisons, the 360 version suffered a bit of resolution reduction during its trip between platforms.

No, the difference in quality isn't groundbreaking or anything. We just wanted you to know all the factors before making a decision. Both versions have their strengths and weaknesses -- for instance, the 360 version requires you to change the disc two times, but the PS3 version of the game is unplayable once every 1,461 days.

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Tags: comparison, digital-foundry, final-fantasy, final-fantasy-xiii, graphics, Microsoft, video, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (152)

Maybe it's the fact that I'm looking at this on an iPod, but I don't see a difference in the screens above. It doesn't surprise me that this is one of the rare cases where the PS3 version trumps the 360 version though - it's obvious that the game was designed primarily with the PS hardware in mind. Anytime the port to the other platform is something of an afterthought, this is going to happen.

You typed that paragraph on an iPhone? I can barely type it on a key board

Pretty much every post I have ever made here on Joystiq has been on an iPhone.

Wow, that's pretty impressive!

It'd be nice if they ever released an App.

i really don't care about the texture or anything but i'm still going to play it in ps3 because i feel like FF13 is at home in ps3

Yeah I only view/post with my iPhone. In fact Joystiqs excellent iPhone friendly format is pretty much why it's my game blog of choice. =)

You have to bare in mind the resolution on the 360 is a third of the ps3 version..

The ps3 version runs at native 720p -- 1280x720 2xMSAA

the 360 version runs at sub-hd 576p -- 1024x576 2xMSAA and then upscales. -- 10MB edram on the 360 again rears its head..

They also mention 1080p CG for the ps3 , so I guess the CG is capable of being output at 1080p native on the ps3 as well (obvious advantages of blu-ray)

@McDuck (Scrooged)

You mean it 2/3's not a third right?

@den-69 yeah well caught sorry..

either 2/3 of or alternately

1/3 less than

sorry,

It should also be bear and not bare , doh !

It's a no brainer, just get the PS3 version if you have both. Blu-ray for no disk swapping plus better graphics and audio. I picked up BC2 for PS3 recently too, game is freakin amazingly good online with friends.

According to the DF article, it seems like the devs could have put a little more effort into making the game look as good as the PS3 or at least not as bad as its current state. A lot of graphical tweaks that could've been done were overlooked.

Additionally, (and not trying to sound like a conspiracy theorist) I'm willing to bet that the 360 version is sub-par partially because of one of SE's principal shareholders:

http://www.square-enix.com/eng/ir/stockholder.html

@EJ

I prefer the 360 every time over the PS3 (I like the controller better) but I'm guessing your dead wrong.

The 360 was a late port. I'm sure it could've been 720 but if they were in Sony back pocket the game never would have come to the 360

@Cap

Indeed, it's a quick and dirty port like a lot of early PS3 titles that were developed on Xbox. I'm sure as the project grew longer, investors wanted a better return-on-investment off a 4+ year project.

Well you certainly aren't going to notice a difference in a tiny screenshot on a website. On a 50" plasma TV, however....

@E.J.
are you trying to say that Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc is responsible for this?
i knew it

Wait? FFXIII is coming to iPhone?

... *squints*

The 360 version seems a touch blurrier. Not a massive amount, but it seems slightly less detailed.

Nothing to go "ZOMG!" over.

Though the hair isn't the best on the 360 version...

I think you're right, actually. The ground looks slightly more detailed, but the character and dragon thing are blurrier.

I don't think it's less blurry: more like jaggier.

Yeah, the ground isn't any more detailed, it's just less smooth.

Also the hair in the 360 version looks as bad as the hair in Final Fantasy VIII. That fact makes me want to vomit a little. Squeenix did a pretty poor job on this port.

You're also looking at a re-sized image that's been compressed for the internet. Follow the link and check out the screenshots they post, it's pretty clear that the PS3 version is crisper, especially during heavy-motion FMV's and even certain moments in gameplay. They do mention that there is a little bit of a framerate issue during certain scenes in the PS3 version, though.

actually the ground is better on the 360 version, theres a higher level of anisotropic filtering on the xbox version. the textures are most likely the same just the filtering is better.

If you look really really close, there's a few pixels that look like they're actually higher quality on the Xbox360 version compared to the PS3 version. Basing this on a 1280x720 resolution, look at pixel 1000x550, and at pixel 873x300. Really amazing how much superior the xbox360 pixels in those locations look.

But since the game only runs at 1280x576...

Lololol, his name is Megapixel, and he's discussing-....nevermind.

To my eyes the PS3 has a higher-res look to it, but less anti-aliasing. Overall I would much rather see a tiny bit more blur than a jaggy ultra-high res mess.

I agree that I don't see a difference. The only thing that aggitates me a little (even though it has nothing to do with this article) is that every TV ad I saw is touting it as a 360 exclusive. It doesn't even mention the PS3 or even have the little PS symbol at the bottom...

Just saw an ad, was one of the MS funded ones since it was hawking the 360 bundle.

I think that's the only one on TV right now...

Why does it "aggitate" you? Sony does it for some games (i.e. Arkham Asylum, Assassin's Creed 2), and Microsoft does it for others.

Why does it "agitate" you? Sony does it for some games (i.e. Arkham Asylum, Assassin's Creed 2), and Microsoft does it for others.

At least with Arkham Asylum and ACII it had the Xbox logo at the bottom. And I mean, maybe it's my inner fanboy but I still see this as a PS3 game...

I'm sure that is how Nintendo fans felt when Final Fantasy went to the Playstation.

Except, for the most part, the Nintendo FF games were all ported to the PlayStation. That makes the PlayStation THE definitive Final Fantasy platform, therefore it's normal for it to 'feel at home'.

My mind is a bit more numb after reading that....

I'm buying the darn thing on the PS3, but if I didn't have a PS3, I wouldn't exactly be pissed that the 360 version is ever so slightly less detailed. I'd be thrilled that I can play it at all.

"The rumours are true. Final Fantasy XIII on Xbox 360 isn't anywhere near as impressive as it is on PlayStation 3. The real kicker is that it's a lot worse than it should have been."

"Adequate, but a touch disappointing."

So which is it? A lot worse, or just a touch? Make up your minds, Digital Foundry!

Worse than it should have been, but ultimately still not that bad is the way I'm reading it.

I don't really see a difference. Maybe I'm blind.

The ground texture is aliased on the 360.

Really, it's not a big deal. Most of the time this stuff amounts to nothing. People make a huge deal out of AC2 or this or whatever, but it's (usually) peanuts.

I don't see a huge difference either. I'm just glad I don't have to buy a PS3 to play it.

Not so easy to see on all pictures, look at the eyes and the hair and you see it.

Yes. For me the choice is $60 for the xbox version or $400 for the PS3. I can take some washed out hair for that kinda money. Granted, the PS3 could do other things, but better hair does not a system seller make.

There aren't that big of a difference in game, both games will look great in motion.
However due to the disc space on 360, the cutscenes had to go under heavy compression, and Square Enix dropped the ball there. Seriously, the cutscene quality is horrible.
http://images.eurogamer.net/assets/articles//a/9/9/4/0/4/1/BadCG_001.jpg.jpg

If it helps, they do mention that the minimum frame rate on the 360 is higher than the PS3 version. Its not all lose for the 360 version. Why didn't you mention that McElroy?

Fanboy hurt. Aww.

Probably because it's supposed to be relatively minor differences? And the game is more about graphics than framerate?

I'm a PC gamer, I'm neutral in all this. A PC port would blow both away anyways. : D

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Digital Foundry: 360 version of Final Fantasy XIII 'adequate but a touch disappointing'

Reader Comments (152)

Posted: Mar 5th 2010 9:21PM FredFredrickson said

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