Square Enix showcases next-gen engine in Agni's Philosophy tech demo

Square Enix has been hard at work producing its in-house Luminous Studio engine for upcoming game titles, naturally with the intent of bringing their production values to the next level.  Today the JRPG publisher has released a short film/tech demo titled "Agni's Philosophy", built from the ground up using Luminous Studio tools.  We won't spoil the fun, but it's enough to know that this is a taster of what actual in-game graphics could look like using Luminous Studio on the right hardware.

Thanks to the LUMINOUS STUDIO engine, the demo video can depict high quality "real time computer graphics" at the same level as "pre-rendered computer graphics". The fine details of the characters, who express life-like humanity, are showcased through their rich facial expressions, subtleties of their pupils and hair, and their brilliantly flowing garments. The characters, along with the vibrant monsters, transport the viewer into the world created by the LUMINOUS STUDIO engine.   

Furthermore, the demo video production was created through the lens of the FINAL FANTASY series, where ancient magic and advanced science coexist in a near-futuristic world. The video depicts a life-changing encounter for our heroine, the magic-wielding protagonist Agni.

The LUMINOUS STUDIO game engine aims to bring about greater productivity within game production teams, while simultaneously offering an environment to create games of fantastic quality. Furthermore, the LUMINOUS STUDIO game engine is planned to support game consoles, PC, smartphones, and the web, encapsulating the many platforms of the next generation of quality.

AGNI'S PHILOSOPHY showcases the level of quality that Square Enix is aiming for in next generation games.

That's right, that was not a feed of an extended CG cutscene but nearly four minutes of the engine producing the sequence in real-time.  It'll be interesting to see how quickly developers will be able to bring in-game visuals to such a level while still making an actual game at the end of the day!