Benchmarking Final Fantasy XVI with Linux and Steam Deck

A year after its console release, Square Enix is ​​bringing Final Fantasy XVI to desktop PC. Benchmark testing of FF16 on Windows PCs showed significant performance issues. But how to run the game on a desktop PC running Arch Linux and Valve Steam Deck?

Test system and standard scene

The system used in other Linux tests is used as a test system. Benchmarks are mainly done using the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT. Intel Arc A380 and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti are used to evaluate interoperability with Intel and Nvidia.

The Steam Deck used is the standard model with an LCD display and SteamOS 3.5.19. Accordingly, kernel version 6.1.52 and Mesa driver 23.1.3 are used on the deck. The resolution used on desktop is 2,560 x 1,440 and the native resolution is 1,280 x 800 for Steam Deck.

The editorial team chose Kielbrügg as the standard Linux landscape. The sequence begins at the southeast entrance Herd Gate Follow the marked path to the village until the end of the bridge to be crossed. Approximately 30 seconds of Standard takes place at night and initially presents a lot of plants and transitions to stone buildings with several light sources in the form of fire bowls along the bridge. This section represents one of the problem areas of the game, which places particularly high demands on the hardware.

The editorial team is testing different graphics levels and upscaling effects. Motion Blur is set to 0, but other options are activated. FSR 3 Frame Generation is on the list and is also being used. Since Variable Rate Shading (VRS) is activated or deactivated by the game depending on the selected preset, all tests were performed with VRS deactivated for the sake of standardization.

Test and evaluation results

Final Fantasy XVI has a performance issue. Benchmark testing with 22 graphics cards for FF XVI under Windows has already shown this, and unsurprisingly the picture is no different on a Linux desktop.

Benchmarks on Linux desktop

The first two hours of gameplay, until the character reaches the open world, basically plays smoothly and with high performance. The Radeon RX 7800 XT was able to maintain over 60 fps over long periods at the highest settings in WQHD, with only a few issues. The game initially offers an impressive graphical presentation with acceptable performance and no compatibility issues.

But as the game progresses, there are more and more FPS drops, drops in frame times and obvious stuttering.

Without FSR 3 frame generation (FG), the game becomes almost unplayable. A look at the values ​​clearly shows this: less than 30fps on average in the benchmark scene, and low fps in the 15fps range. Movement inputs take time to be executed;

With FG the situation improves significantly: depending on the scene, there are stable frame times and more than 60 FPS, but as soon as more details appear in the scene, the values ​​​​drop sharply and reduce the enjoyment of the game. The dynamic resolution scaling associated with FSR 3 delivers more frames per second, while lower graphics settings have little impact.

As for Linux itself, it's no surprise that Final Fantasy XVI runs on Linux, but – as on Windows – it doesn't run very well.

The editorial team also tested the game using graphics cards from Nvidia and Intel. Due to the already modest performance with the AMD RX 7800 XT, no benchmarks were used and only a general determination of operating capability was made. With that in mind, FF16 runs on an Nvidia card, albeit with an unplayable FPS. The title doesn't even want to start with an Intel graphics card.

Standards on the steam surface

Square Enix itself has not provided an official rating for the Steam Deck. However, this does not prevent playing on Linux or starting on the Steam Deck. Unfortunately, it soon becomes clear why there is no rating for the portable console.

The deck is currently hopelessly inundated with title. Smooth gameplay cannot be achieved even when using upscaling, lower settings and other performance tweaks. Yes, you can play through FF16 on the Steam Deck, but it's not currently fun.

Due to poor performance, editors started playback with only the lowest settings. In the same standard scene as on desktop, the combination in Final Fantasy XVI achieves 12.3 fps on average and 7.0 fps at a low frame rate of 1%. Smooth gaming feels different.

conclusion

The conclusion is difficult. The game itself is good and fun, but the evaluation in the Linux test is technical and there are major problems with it. It has nothing to do with Linux, but with the porting from console to PC: Benchmarking with 22 graphics cards for FF XVI under Windows has already given details about this. In one sentence: You can tell that the game was programmed for consoles and not for the potential performance of desktop computers.

If you want to play it now and don't want to be afraid of FPS issues later in the game, you can do that today using Linux. However, this only applies to AMD Radeon users. Anyone with an Intel or Nvidia graphics card should stay away from FF16 under Linux for now.

And if you're expecting smooth gameplay for your money, you should wait at that point anyway. Final Fantasy XVI is not currently suitable for the Steam Deck itself anyway.

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