Is the PC port good?

[Alb3rT_pr0]

Hi! I bought this game on ps3, but it's still sealed. Should I sell it and buy this version from the FFXIII double pack? I want it on PC not only for the visual enhancements, but also for the entire DLC collection. However, I heard that PC version has problems. What should I know before buying it? Thank you!

[SirNinja]

Both XIII and this are very direct ports, with very little optimization (both the CPU and GPU are severely under-utilized), and setting the shadow resolution too high can cripple performance on even the best rigs. That said, it's possible to get higher framerates on the PC version than was ever possible on console, not to mention much higher resolution.

If your PC is good, go ahead and get this version, as it has literally all the DLC (yes, even the stuff they supposedly "couldn't" include - see here for more info). If you're having trouble running it, there are a lot of solutions, enhancements, and helpful mods here[pcgamingwiki.com].

[Alb3rT_pr0]

Originally posted by SirNinja:

Both XIII and this are very direct ports, with very little optimization (both the CPU and GPU are severely under-utilized), and setting the shadow resolution too high can cripple performance on even the best rigs. That said, it's possible to get higher framerates on the PC version than was ever possible on console, not to mention much higher resolution.

If your PC is good, go ahead and get this version, as it has literally all the DLC (yes, even the stuff they supposedly "couldn't" include - see here for more info). If you're having trouble running it, there are a lot of solutions, enhancements, and helpful mods here[pcgamingwiki.com].

Thanks. My PC is an I7-2600, EVGA GTX 560 ti, 16gb RAM DDR3, this should be more than enough to play at 1080p right? btw, can you enable AF through nvidia control panel?

[SirNinja]

Originally posted by alberto11a:

My PC is an I7-2600, EVGA GTX 560 ti, 16gb RAM DDR3, this should be more than enough to play at 1080p right?

Yes, that should be good. I don't recommend setting antialiasing higher than x4, or shadow res higher than 1024x1024, or else the game will frequently dip below the 30FPS it likes to cap itself at. (Note that the game actually requires at least 2x antialiasing in order to properly render hair, eyelashes, etc., so that's why there isn't a "None" option there. Just FYI)

Originally posted by alberto11a:

btw, can you enable AF through nvidia control panel?

You can and should. Go to the Nvidia control panel, and under Manage 3D Settings, force Anisotropic Filtering to 8x or 16x. It will significantly improve distant texture quality in both XIII and XIII-2 (and lots of other games!) at only a minimal performance hit.

[Alb3rT_pr0]

Originally posted by SirNinja:

Originally posted by alberto11a:

My PC is an I7-2600, EVGA GTX 560 ti, 16gb RAM DDR3, this should be more than enough to play at 1080p right?

Yes, that should be good. I don't recommend setting antialiasing higher than x4, or shadow res higher than 1024x1024, or else the game will frequently dip below the 30FPS it likes to cap itself at. (Note that the game actually requires at least 2x antialiasing in order to properly render hair, eyelashes, etc., so that's why there isn't a "None" option there. Just FYI)

Originally posted by alberto11a:

btw, can you enable AF through nvidia control panel?

You can and should. Go to the Nvidia control panel, and under Manage 3D Settings, force Anisotropic Filtering to 8x or 16x. It will significantly improve distant texture quality in both XIII and XIII-2 (and lots of other games!) at only a minimal performance hit.

Yes yes, I know that regarding AF, thanks for the info bro! One more thing. Regarding Lightning Returns coming on december, do you know if there will be a physical edition? I try to collect al FF games in my shelve, but it would be a shame that this chapter is only avaliable in digital. Thanks!

[宮内凛]

as long as your not some kind of snob then the port is fine, as long as you have an average PC it should run better than ps3 but I don't think there is any major advantage to the PC version.

[Xerazal]

nope. steer clear of this port, at least until its fixed. On a monster rig the game barely handles 30fps.

[GravityLoL]

Originally posted by Xerazal:

nope. steer clear of this port, at least until its fixed. On a monster rig the game barely handles 30fps.

show us that "master rig"

[sammykneen]

It's not the best port but I love the game so I can forgive it for now.

On an i7-4790K and GTX 970 I get 60fps with the odd drop out of battle. But a juddery 30-60 in battle. Playable, but not smooth.

[Rise Kujikawa]

Originally posted by GravityLoL:

Originally posted by Xerazal:

nope. steer clear of this port, at least until its fixed. On a monster rig the game barely handles 30fps.

show us that "master rig"

Careful, that monster rig is running windows 98.

[vain]

im using i7-3770k, r9 280x 3gb, 16gb ram, ssd, and this game crashes every 3 minutes. longest was 10 minutes.

[GravityLoL]

Originally posted by vain:

im using i7-3770k, r9 280x 3gb, 16gb ram, ssd, and this game crashes every 3 minutes. longest was 10 minutes.

i5 4460 3,2, r9 270x 2GB, 8GB Ram, HDD + SSD, 30-60 FPS, fluid if locked, mad? problem must on on your side in software probably.

[Rise Kujikawa]

Originally posted by GravityLoL:

Originally posted by vain:

im using i7-3770k, r9 280x 3gb, 16gb ram, ssd, and this game crashes every 3 minutes. longest was 10 minutes.

i5 4460 3,2, r9 270x 2GB, 8GB Ram, HDD + SSD, 30-60 FPS, fluid if locked, mad? problem must on on your side in software probably.

Always ran good for me on my 780m.

Kinda reminds me of Anno 2070, there are so many people who cry about Uplay, the game crashing, etc but I have had very little trouble with it.

[ishiki]

It looks amazing in 3D, and with 60 FPS with some drops (i5 6600k@4.3 GHZ, 980 TI)... it's easily the best version of the game particularly with difficulty mod. (Since PS3 is 30 FPS, with a lot of drops).

However, it's terribly optimized, and you need a much better rig than you should for this game. It also lacks rumble with no way to mod that in.

[Alb3rT_pr0]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oywAwe2toxo
Well this guy has a similar rig like mine, and the game performs "well". I've observed that the game constantly dips between 30~60 fps like a rollercoaster. Weird, but as long as it doesn't go below 30 it's ok for me.

[SirNinja]

Originally posted by Shirayuki474:

Try to play FF XIII-2 on official min requirements, mad?

The system requirements for both XIII and XIII-2 don't mean too much when the engine only uses a single CPU core and only a percentage of GPU. I don't think there's a game out there where the system requirements mattered less than they do for this game, and that's mostly thanks to the shoddy, copypasted nature of the ports. Getting these games to run well is less a matter of having good hardware and more a matter of configuring drivers, tweaking settings, downloading fixes, and a fair bit of trial and error. Sucks, but the result is playing these games in 4K with a framerate that's better than it ever was on console.