Final Fantasy XV for Windows should have been a mess, but it’s the opposite

Enlarge (credit: Square Enix)

The open-world RPG Final Fantasy XV has finally launched for Windows PCs ($49.99 at Steam, Windows Store), roughly 15 months after its console predecessor. Up until this week, we weren't so sure this later version would be worth playing.

Nearly six months ago to the day, Square Enix invited us to take a world's-first look at FFXV's PC version. It wasn't good news. The clearly incomplete preview build included everything in our worst PC-port nightmares: messy mouse-and-keyboard support, incorrect resolution scaling, lousy tweaking options, and a frame rate only a mother could love.

This was followed with a February launch of an FFXV benchmarking tool, full of in-game sequences meant to tax your system and print out a vague score. However, this tool turned out so rough that Square Enix now tells fans to ignore its readings. Between that and the lack of advance access to review the PC version, we wouldn't have been surprised to see this port launch as an utter disaster.