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WhenFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthfirst launched, it was a PS5-exclusive game. At this point, the PlayStation 5 Pro was not yet on the market, either. There were two visual settings: Graphics and Performance. It was a simpler time, yet even then, it wasn’t always clear which option was “right” per players' personal tastes.
Now, FF7 Rebirth is on PC. That means Steam Deck, too. The PS5 Pro is on the market, so there’s another factor for Sony players to potentially consider. Square Enix even released a more granular tweak for all versions' Performance Modes. What does it all mean, and which should you choose?
Understanding Each Graphics Option
For those witha regular PlayStation 5, there arethree graphics settingsto choose between.PlayStation 5 Pro owners have four, and the extra mode is virtually inarguably the best. Here’s each one:
Graphics
The PlayStation 5 hardware will do whatever it takes toachieve 4k resolutionwhenever possible. “Whatever it takes” meanschoppier gameplay.
The30 fps targetis fairly consistent, so there won’t be much to worry about there, butcombat feels noticeably choppier as a result. If you’ve ever played FF7 Remake on PS4, and then again on PS5, that jump to 60 fps is a massive leap. Same story here.
That aside,if you don’t own a PS5 Pro, don’t disregard Graphics mode wholesale, becauseboth Performance settings are often fairly blurry. Draw distance takes a hit with them, and character models are not so great.
To experience Rebirth in all its, well,graphical splendor,do consider Graphics mode.
Performance (Sharp)
How much that matters to you will determine whether it’s worth reading on, butPerformance (Sharp) is an option added post-launch which attempts to address some of Performance’s blurriness issues. It does so… adequately, if barely.
The flip side, however, is thatyou’ll likely encounter more “jaggies” throughout the game. Odd line imaging; the aliasing will just look kind of messy in a lot of environments. If you’re playing on a standard PS5, can’t stand the 30 fps limitation, and want to avoid a bit of the blur factor, this is your go-to.
Performance (Smooth)
As best we can tell,Performance (Smooth) is essentially the renamed version of the original Performance mode. It’s Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, ramped to60 fps, but demonstratingsignificant graphical limitationsin order to achieve this herculean task.
Preferences between Sharp and Smooth will admittedly boil down to taste, soit’s worth testing them bothif you’re committed to 60 fps, butwe slightly prefer Sharp.
Character models are substandard either way -closer to the PS4 version of Remake, and in some environments, worse- but Sharp at least mitigates the damage a bit.
We will say,the game’s first huge zone, the Grasslands, seems to have it the worst in terms of the overly smooth blurriness. It’s all that greenery; you can really tell the textures have gotten muddier. It can be downright ugly at times. After the Grasslands, things get a little easier on the eyes.
Versatility
And here’s themode exclusive to PS5 Pro. It’s not been an uncommon refrain to see people declare Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth as the biggest reason to shell out for a Pro, andVersatility modemakes their argument for them, clear as day.
Not only will Rebirth look better on the Pro no matter which route you take, butVersatilitymodeutilizes PlayStation Spectral Spectral Super Resolution(PSSR, as it’s usually called), whichupscales the picture to dramatic effect.
With PSSR, the game basicallybypasses the 30 fps dilemma of Graphics modeto deliver you thebest image quality you’ll receive unless you’re playing on a powerful PC. All of this whileusually sticking to 60 fps.
Versatility mode effectively eliminates the other three optionsfrom our consideration. Unless you’re unwiling to riskanyframerate hiccups, there’s no reason to give Performance (Sharp) and Performance (Smooth) the time of day moving forward, and Graphics is equally outclassed.
The PC-Specific Suite
Of course, onPC, you’ll be givena far more exhaustive list of graphical optionsrather than thethree available pre-sets on PlayStation 5. If you’re comfortable with this sort of granular fare, you should have no trouble at all.
If not, then our golden rule is always toget to know your system information and the overall capabilities of your graphics card and processor. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthwillaim to reflect your GPU in its recommended settings, but you’ll still have complete dominion over each aspect of the game’s presentation.
What wecansay, at least, is that the following ought to factor heavily if you decide to do some adjustments:
Other Settings For Your Consideration
Beyond the big one, there are alsoaudio tweaksto consider. We can’t speak to the PC version firsthand, but in our hundreds of hours with FF7 Rebirth on PS5,dialogue clarity can be ahugeissue.
We’ve often found it drowned-out by the music, and whilecertain sound systems may be better equipped to handle this,we tested the game on three, and while some were indeed better than others,none came in well.
Our advice, then, is tolower the ‘Music Volume’ and ‘Song Volume’whilecranking up the ‘Speech Volume’. (SFX Volume can go either way, though consider lowering it a tad.) If you’re worried that Rebirth’s jaw-droppingly good soundtrack won’t come through crystal-clear, don’t -frankly, it’ll still be plenty loud.
The rest of your decision-making is going to revolve aroundHUD-related issues. Keep this stuff on atfirst; we’d recommendremoving the combat and movement guidesonce you get the hang of things, as they eat up screen real estate.
Thechat boxis very take-it-or-leave-it; if FF7 Rebirth’s music is still causing clarity issues, you might need to keep it on (unless you really just do not care what environmental NPCs have to say to each other).
Stuff like thetrackercan be disabled if you’re interested inheightening the immersion factor, as they’ll nix further clutter, and leave things a bit more ‘open’ as you explore.
