Every couple of years or so Square Enix likes to release tech demos of possible new graphics engine that they may be developing. Remember Agni’s Philosophy from 2012? The tech used in that short demo was eventually the basis for Final Fantasy XV. Now Square is at it again. At TGS 2018 this past weekend, Visual Works, Square Enix’s studio that does all of their CGI cut-scenes, released a new tech demo showing off what they have been working on. This time instead of a fantasy motif with middle eastern vibes, Visual Works’ new tech demo is sci-fi/cyber-punk with a samurai/ninja feel:
As usual, Visual Works manages to push the boundaries of CGI, just barely scraping the edge of the uncanny valley. As I mentioned before, Square and Visual Works will put out a tech demo like this every few years or so to show off new tech they ate developing for possibly the next numbered Final Fantasy game or used for any of their IPs, including Western IPs such as Tomb Raider, Deus EX and Just Cause. Whatever the case maybe, let’s just hope that it doesn’t take another sixteen years for Final Fantasy XVI.
