Although we are still several months out from Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker’s mid-November 2021 launch, Square Enix gives both fans and newcomers a chance to take a sneak peek at the expansion pack’s locales, and the new Male Viera race, through their newly released Benchmark Software. You can download the tool via the official Final Fantasy XIV Lodestone website, with no purchase or account required.
Primarily designed to test whether your PC is capable of running the game and at what settings, there are many things you should consider doing in the 5 to 10 minutes you will likely spend using the tool.
Here are just a few of the things you can do:
1Create Your Character to See Them Reflected in the Benchmark Cutscenes
Except for changing jobs, accessing paid-for hairstyles, and anything that needs to be developed following the Benchmark releases, the software includes the game’s full character creation suite. You can choose to recreate your current in-game character, dabble with any gender-race combination or even try your hand at creating a Male Viera, which will be introduced in Endwalker and depicted for the first time in Final Fantasy history.
Dabbled a bit and come up with a design that you love and would like to use in the full game? You can save your custom designs and carry them across when Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker launches in November.
TIP: For some extra fun, why don’t you strip your cute bunny boy or cat boy down to just their undies?
2Try on some different outfit sets
Although you are limited to the Paladin class during the Benchmark, you can try out many different pre-defined outfits on your character – often high-end raid gear or paid cash shop DLC outfits.
If you have been on the lookout for a new style, especially if you do play as one of the four tank classes, be sure to take a look and see if a particular design suits you! The Benchmark even gives you a first in-game sneak peek at one of the Level 90 tank sets.
Once you have chosen your desired outfit, click Confirm, and your character will take the lead the next time you boot up the actual Benchmark.
TIP: If you want the benchmark cutscenes to be wonky, dress up as a Swine!
3Enjoy the Varied Bookmark Cutscenes
The Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker benchmark comprises of several cutscenes of different intensities, from more straightforward battles to panning shots of both new hub towns Radz-at-Han and Sharlayan, to high-intensity conflicts with dozens of monsters and players alike duking it out using every skill in their arsenal. Spanning approximately 5 minutes in length, and although these exact scenes are unlikely to appear in the final game, they do give a glimpse at the environments you will spend the next few years running around – in dungeons, trials, listening to player-driven music in or doing hunt trains in.
The main purpose of these is, of course, to test how well your system handles the game, and determine whether it is a) Powerful enough to handle Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker and b) What graphical settings you should consider using. For those with powerful enough PCs, 4K support is also featured this time around. So, while your PC is more than likely going to be able to handle 1080p gameplay… just how well does it handle 4K?
For those who cannot download the Benchmark for whatever reason, below is an assortment of screenshots from it (downscaled from 4K).
4Celebrate or Weep Over What Your Final Benchmark Score Was
Finally, we end up with what the Benchmark is actually supposed to do – generate a score and let the user know how well their system should theoretically handle the game. This is presented while their character, other NPCs and minions (hopefully) cheer for their successful completion of the Benchmark.
The scores are broken down into the following categories:
Score of 15,000+ = Extremely High Performance – Easily capable of running the game on the highest settings.
Score of 11,000 – 14,999 = Very High Performance – Easily capable of running the game. Should perform exceptionally well, even at higher resolutions.
Score of 8,000 – 10,999 = High Performance – Easily capable of running the game. Should perform well, even at higher resolutions.
Score of 6,000 – 7,999 = Fairly High Performance – Capable of running the game on default settings. Consider switching to a higher resolution depending on performance.
Score of 4,000 – 5,999 = Standard Performance – Capable of running the game on default settings.
Score of 2,000 – 3,999 = Slightly Low Performance – Capable of running the game, but will experience slowdown. Adjusting settings may improve performance.
Score of 1,000 – 1,999 = Low Performance – Capable of running the game, but will experience considerable slowdown. Adjusting settings is unlikely to improve performance.
Score of Under 1,000 = Insufficient Performance – Does not meet specifications for running the game.
Therefore, the best way of looking at these is that a score of 4,000 – 5,999 means that your settings should be sufficient to play Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker. Should they be higher, you could perhaps consider increasing the resolution more or upping some of the more intense graphical features. Anything lower, and you may need to either adjust your settings or look at upgrading some of your hardware to ensure you don’t experience noticeable client-driven slowdowns, freezing or the inability to play at all.
Of course, the scores can be impacted based on what is running on your computer at the time it runs. So if you only receive a ‘Standard Performance’ score but are rendering 4K Video in Adobe Premiere… perhaps consider putting your PC under a more normal environment prior to running it again.
