Final Fantasy XV Deserves a PC Port, and Will Likely Get One

Final Fantasy XV did a lot of things right. Its combat system was considered exciting and dynamic, moving the franchise into action RPG territory. Its world was huge with a variety of activities to participate in, coming close to evoking the same feeling of wonder as classic Final Fantasy titles. It was also a beautiful game, and a pleasure to see in motion. But despite being the first numbered Final Fantasy game on current-generation consoles, it struggled with some notable technical issues.

Final Fantasy XV's experience was regularly marred by inconsistent performance brought on by its long draw distances and high terrain detail. Although locked at 30 FPS, dips into the low 20's were commonplace in the open-world whether you were playing on PS4 or Xbox One.

Performance hiccups made traveling the world, a major element of the game's design, much less enjoyable than it could have been. To some, it was the single biggest shortcoming of the game.

These issues weren't necessarily fixed by the PS4 Pro's newer hardware, either. In-fact, many PS4 Pro owners noted at release that performance was notably less consistent even when running in the game's 1080p / 60 FPS mode. There's no telling if a Project Scorpio version will do the trick.

Thankfully, Square Enix has voiced its interest in developing a PC port of Final Fantasy XV. ​In an interview with Famitsu, director Hajime Tabata shared, "I’d like to release the game on PC as a technical attempt. I want to show Final Fantasy XV running on high-end machines, and we personally would like to see it, too."

Although not technically serving as confirmation, Final Fantasy has recently been very outgoing when it comes to PC ports. The Final Fantasy XIII trilogy has found its way on Steam, and so have several classic titles, including Final Fantasy VIII. In the case of the former, reception from PC gamers has been very positive, too.

Tabata would add, "I would like to try developing on PC to pursue a unique way of playing with PC-exclusive features like making your own quests and enjoying the world using things like mods."

Like many RPGs, Final Fantasy XV would be a favorable game when it comes to mods. Its open-world was considered barren when compared to modern competitors like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Fallout 4, leaving plenty of room for expansion. Upcoming DLC will address this to some extent, but much of its focus is on story content rather than the outdoors.

At this point a PC port of Final Fantasy XV seems appropriate. Hopefully this happens sooner rather than later.