Final Fantasy 16 Motion Blur Causing Nausea for Some Players With No Way to Turn Off

Motion blur in Final Fantasy 16 is causing some players to feel nauseated with no way to turn the feature off.

Several users have complained about the motion blur — which is a graphical effect used for myriad reasons like giving a sense of speed, covering up a low framerate, or making in-game action seem smoother — and more so that Square Enix failed to include the ability to turn it off.

“Let me preface this by saying that I was incredibly excited for the game, loved the demo, and am enjoying the main game so far,” HanShotFirst1569 said on Reddit.

“Final Fantasy 16 has the most offensively atrocious motion blur I have ever seen in a video game.”

“But wow, Final Fantasy 16 has the most offensively atrocious motion blur I have ever seen in a video game. It gave me motion sickness intense enough to force me into the bathroom in case I threw up. I can’t believe they released it like this and didn’t include the fix in the day one patch.”

Several other users agreed in the comments, with some noting it was difficult to play the game for even an hour at the time because the motion blur effect made them unwell. “I’m a few hours into the game and I’m really enjoying it, but goddamn the motion blur gives me a headache at times,” said one.

Square Enix is yet to address the complaints, though motion blur being an issue seemingly didn’t come up in pre-launch checks given Final Fantasy 16 went gold three months ahead of launch and the developer released a tiny day one patch. IGN has asked Square Enix for comment.

I finally watched someone play FF16 who felt queasy from the motion blur. It’s as I thought – the way they use the camera is completely different. They use fast, jerky movements and often try to fight the camera which tries to re-center.

— John Linneman (@dark1x) June 25, 2023

Digital Foundry’s John Linneman has highlighted a potential cause for motion blur nausea on Twitter (above), saying it appears worse when players use quick, jerky movements of the camera instead of slower pans or leaving it alone altogether.

“I finally watched someone play Final Fantasy 16 who felt queasy from the motion blur. It’s as I thought: the way they use the camera is completely different,” he said. “They use fast, jerky movements and often try to fight the camera which tries to re-centre.”

The game has otherwise been well received, with players obsessing over Cid’s voice actor and a new feature called Active Time Lore. Final Fantasy 16 also shows a lot of love for the franchise’s past, with its intro being directly inspired by the original 1987 game and a reference to a beloved character.

In our 9/10 review, IGN said: “Featuring fast, reflex driven, action heavy combat, Final Fantasy 16 is certainly a departure from what fans may expect out of a Final Fantasy game, but its excellent story, characters, and world building are right up there with the best the series has to offer, and the innovative Active Time Lore feature should set a new standard for how lengthy, story-heavy games keep players invested in its world.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.