There is a bit of controversy over some comparison shots of Final Fantasy XIII from the previous build and the new build, which was distributed by Square Enix two months ago. There is an apparent downgrade in graphics on the new build and many gamers are blaming the Xbox 360 version of the game.
Things exploded globally over the Web earlier this week over comparison shots of the 2008 demo build with the recently released demo build from June 2009. Things started heating up over in Japan as multiple sites picked up the news with many gamers blaming the development of the Xbox 360 version as to the cause of the downgrade. The U.S. media then picked up the story and started reporting it.
As many of you already know when it comes to Final Fantasy XIII, I can be pretty bullish about how its being developed and how it will be delivered into my grubby hands. Early on in January, I blamed Microsoft and Square Enix for pushing back the release of Final Fantasy XIII after a hasty decision to add the Xbox 360 development to the production schedule.
Then confirmation really came in May that the Xbox 360 development truly is hampering the western release of the game. Yoshinori Kitase FFXIII producer revealed that the PS3 version is going through final polishing and main development has completed. He also revealed that Xbox 360 development hasn’t even started besides the basic engine modifications. Blaming localization was completely thrown out the window when Kitase also revealed that English voices are being recorded in conjunction with Japanese vocals.
Now multiple things are coming to light which could imply that the development on the Xbox 360 is having some adverse affects on the PS3 version. Kitase indicated that the team will make sure that the PS3 and Xbox 360 is as identical as possible. There seems to be some texture downgrades from the build on the Japanese Advent Children Blu-ray disc, which was released at the DKΣ3713 event in Japan August 2008 and from the new demo sent out in the international version of Advent Children DVD disc in June of 2009.
View all of the Comparison Shots here
Looking at the comparison shots, I have to agree with Kotaku there is a bit of change in textures from both versions. The visuals around the costumes and environments are not as sharp and detailed in the new build. There are also fewer polygons in the new build which is evident from the jaggy shoulders.
As I have stated previously, I could care less about what platform FFXIII lands on whether it be Xbox 360 or PC/Mac. However, I do care about games taking half a decade to complete and visual downgrades. Square Enix should let each version run at whatever capacity on each console and release the game as it finishes.
Since I have in my hands a copy of the original Japanese Advent Children Blu-ray disc with the FFXIII demo released at the DKΣ3713 event back in 2008, I should easily be able to do some comparison when either the Japanese retail version or international demo gets released. I have been playing the FFXIII demo lately and the graphics are stunning and it would be a shame if it were to be downgraded.
