Have you heard about Final Fantasy 14’s grapes? Once upon a time, they had been the discuss of Eorzea – repurposed crystal shapes with a pleasant, lush grape texture pasted excessive. Introduced within the Endwalker growth, these low-poly prolate spheroids rapidly grew to become an web sensation.
Sure, there was an fringe of mockery to individuals’s obsession with the grapes, nevertheless it wasn’t all mean-spirited – I believe a variety of the overblown fan response got here right down to FF14 gamers being genuinely impressed on the ingenuity of repainting a crystal. With grapes. It helped save assets elsewhere within the recreation and allowed FF14 to run butter-smooth. Everyone’s a winner! (Except vitis vinifera fanatics, that’s).
Square Enix is eager to make amends in Final Fantasy 16, although. The recreation – as lots of you’ll know should you’ve performed the demo – is among the most polished, well-honed releases we’ve seen shortly. Even the not-so-important property and areas look unbelievable, and the way in which Square Enix Creative Business Unit 3 (that’s the developer) has wrangled the lighting engine to always replicate the glint of Clive’s sword and spotlight the perimeters of his good-looking face is correct, current-gen magic. So props to the devs.
One space you may actually see an enchancment in is – sure, you guessed it – the grapes. The asset is used fairly a couple of occasions all through the sport, however the commonest place you’ll clock the grapes is in an space you’ll get to go to pretty early on: the Oribelle Downs. These bucolic little foothills produce the wine you’ll see virtually each NPC quaff in virtually each scene close to the beginning of the sport, and appears to be the satisfaction and pleasure of the lushes of Valisthea.
But examine them carefully. Get your self proper as much as the vines and stick your nostril in. Take within the bouquet, ogle the soft-baked mild dappled on the luxurious purple pores and skin of the fruit. What do you see? Honest to god polygons, so many you may rattling close to style them. Boot up Photo Mode (pause, then hit the touchpad on the character display) and faux you’re a sommelier – rotate, zoom, appraise. These are some rattling good grapes.
It virtually appears like Square Enix had a degree to show, right here. Final Fantasy 16 represents a daring new step for the franchise, and rewrites and re-examines a variety of the basics that made the sequence what it’s right now. I received’t spoil something right here, however the characters within the recreation typically say the quiet elements out loud, and draw some fairly apparent analogies to the influence of legacy, and the significance of breaking away from it.
The grapes characterize a visible metaphor for that, actually: these aren’t the make-do grapes of Final Fantasy 14, Macgyver’d into the sport add a way of place while saving on processing energy. These new grapes are a devoted asset – proven off proudly in an space you’ll come again to again and again. It’s as if Square Enix is saying, ‘look, we all know you all had a great chuckle at us earlier than, however look. Look! Grapes!’ earlier than holding them proper as much as your face and virtually forcing them into your mouth.
we are going to miss you, grapes 🍇 you had been actually outstanding
— FINAL FANTASY XIV (@FF_XIV_EN) December 21, 2021
The truth these grapes warrant their very own story could seem absurd to you – however actually, Google ‘FF14 grapes’ and you will note how a lot the world at giant loves (or liked) the low-poly grapes that grew to become a logo of FF14’s journey from failed MMORPG to worldwide megahit.
FF16 made an enormous track and dance about not needing any patches at launch to be able to, y’know, work, (even whenit did want a bit of optimisation replace, ultimately) and I can see why: the graphics, the world, and the sense of place is so full in Valisthea that I spent a great 20 minutes ogling a bloody grape asset. That tells you all you want to know, actually.
Our good associates at Digital Foundry had been additionally massive followers of the grapes. Not solely did they supply us with these pretty grape photos above, however they featured grapes of their sensible technical evaluation of Final Fantasy 16, which you’ll be able to watch beneath.
Final Fantasy 16 is out now on PS5, and can come to PC at a later date. Probably. You can learn our 4-star FF16 overview on the hyperlink.
