Side Quests
+ Back into the thick of it, and the first thing I did was finish the normal Trial by Darkness; the final trial will probably be one of the harder S-Ranks
+ The people in Dalimil are such ignorant bastards, I'm not even really happy about having to save them; I do it only for L'ubor and the children's sake
+ The Chimera S-Rank mark was awesome; I loved raining pain down on it, one of my favorite monster archetypes in this game
+ Clive is savage with his one-liners after each hunt
+ And so ends the Dalimil quest line, a very good story, I really like L'ubor; he is a cheeky guy, but with his heart in the right place
+ It's nice to hear the hustling and bustling in Dalimil again
+ I like that a lot of the side quests revolve around picking up the pieces after the heretofore known societal structures have been broken down due to the apocalypse
+ Thanatos was so fun to fight; I love using my current setup with Garuda, Shiva, and Odin, and, honestly, I just think the combat is so fast-paced and works so well as a power fantasy that it manages to make you feel uber-powerful
+ The Undying are certainly a strange group, I wonder what awaits me at the end of this quest line
+ It speaks for its size that Origin is visible from so many places in Valisthea
+ The Trial by Wind was fun, Garuda is super simple to use, so getting time bonuses with her was a walk in the park, I had great fun decimating the coeurl in the final stage
Arete Stone
+ The Final Trial by Wind was easy-peasy
+ Odin's Final Trial was a bit harder than the other ones; it was basically about throwing out as many Level 5 Zantetsuken as possible, it took me a few attempts
+ Achieved the S-Rank in Kingsfall and Phoenix Gate Ruins and got reminded once again how epic that was: "Press L3 + R3 to accept the truth"
+ Getting S-Ranks is pretty easy, but it's still fun to go through these sections with the full arsenal
+ Got to fight the Akashic Dragon and Typhon again through Arcade Mode, and the two music tracks that are playing during the fight against Typhon are so good, they really do an amazing job of conveying that mysterious feeling while still pumping you up for the fight
Side Quests
+ The connections between the characters run deep, and the side quests do a great job of showing that, like Harpocrates' connection to Dion or Quinten's role in the Three's Company side quest
+ The conclusion to the Northreach storyline was satisfying and hopeful, similar to the one in Dalimil, maybe a little too similar, but there have been a few that were more unique, like the story in and around Boklad or the ones concerning characters like Blackthorne, Goetz, and Charon, so I don't really mind that those two storylines felt a little bit similar, I personally enjoyed the Northreach story a little more
+ The Undying storyline is very interesting; it depicts what kind of horrible fate religious fanaticism could lead to, this is also indirectly Joshua's doing as he gave them this task; he probably didn't expect them to be this drastic
+ To die on one's own terms... some side quests have very somber endings
+ The Three's Company quest had such a great ending scene; Byron is a gem, and I love how protective and proud he is of Clive, I might have said that already, but it's so sweet and wholesome, this quest intermingled multiple quest lines, which I think is really cool, and it showed that there will be a new normal once Ultima's grasp on the world is gone for good
+ The scene between Dion and Harpocrates hit me right in the feels, I feel really sad for Dion; his guilt must weigh heavily on his soul, but his intentions were always just, his actor also does an amazing job at conveying his inner turmoil, he is one of my favorite characters, and this is one of my favorite side quests for the insight it gives into "his imperial highness's" emotions before the big showdown
+ Defeated the Prince of Death, I now have all the materials needed for Gotterdammerung, the fight was really fun, my current setup is just a blast to use
+ Diamond Dust is an amazing ability; the animation along with the sound effects feel appropriately brutal
+ Knight of the Splendent Heart was such a great fight, a really powerful dragoon and there was a little story there with him believing that Clive corrupted Dion, overall a great hunt
+ I am still feeling so pumped up at every fight because the combat is so good
+ Finding the suicide note of the killer and the registry with all the bearer children he killed in Badbach is very dark, this atrocity justifies Clive's mission and goal
+ It's nice to hear how much people respect Gav; he is a pillar of the Hideaway
+ The description of Clive's old sparring sword on the wall of memories almost made me tear up
+ I like that some side quests take us to new areas, like Balmung Dark, it's really messed up that the Waloeders were feeding bearers to this Kuza monster, I wonder what kind of monstrosity it is
+ Oh damn, the Kuza monster is a Behemoth
+ I completely destroyed that beast
+ It's really cool that even minor characters like Dorys have such a fleshed-out story
+ The Behemoth King hunt was absolutely amazing; his attacks were visually striking; he was raining the anger of all the elements down on me; pummeling him and then using my Stagger combination attacks felt super satisfying, and, as if that wasn't enough, I managed to load up a single level 5 Zantetsuken right at the end of the fight to finish him off, I had an absolute blast
+ Archduke Elwin's will... He wanted to change the world, and his legacy now lives on in Clive and Joshua, this quest has been great so far; I really enjoyed fighting the Griffin too, all that's left is to pay Elwin's memorial a visit
+ I love that Clive speaks to Torgal when questing; it shows their bond
+ Did the Trial by Earth, and that was probably the easiest, as Titan's counters are not hard to pull off, and the Iron Giant is an enemy with very readable moves
+ The scene at Elwin's memorial made me happy and sad at the same time, he would be proud of his sons, but it doesn't change the tragedy that happened, Clive feeling the presence of Elwin behind him really shook my heart
+ The ensemble cast and especially Clive have grown on me so much, I'm happy that I was able to push the ending a bit further with all these great side quests, but soon it will be time for this adventure to end
+ Yay, there is a quest involving Jill
+ I love the small, tiny details in this game; for example, Edita's writings, an adult going from illiteracy to writing really fancy fantasy stories
+ Mid is a wonderful character; her fun nature and single-minded drive for inventing things are the right characteristics for a dreamer such as her, the nod to the classic FF airship was really nice, and Mid is absolutely justified in the fear that airships would enable a new way to wage war, the fact that she wants to burry the engines and her blueprints for future generations to discover is really "Mid", for lack of a better description, oh, and... Titan's Tits!
+ I'm always reminded of what an amazing guy Cid was
+ Aaaah, Gav! Clive and Gav have such a brotherly bond, and it's cute how nervous and excited he is about Edda's baby; it's truly heartwarming, he says he is not a hero, but he was the main man more than once, I love Gav so much; he really symbolizes the familial aspect of the Hideaway, also, his actor did an amazing job portraying him; he is one of my favorites
+ The Hideaway and all its allies are family
+ The moment between Clive and Jill was so sweet and heartwarming; they truly love each other, and I think that they both saved each other; Clive only had his false lust for revenge to drive him forward for years, and Jill felt heavy guilt for having people's blood on her hands, they both felt dehumanized and like monsters, but they found humanity within each other and learned to forgive themselves
+ Finally completed all of the Chronolith trials by finishing the Trial by Thunder, it was very interesting using Ramuh again, however, I'm not a big fan of his shotlock as the Eikonic Feat
+ Got the S-Rank in the two last Final Trials; they were pretty easy, especially Titan's, Ramuh's had a few tricky parts
The Hideaway
+ The last entries in the Thousand Tomes give a lot of insight into how Ultima has shaped this world and shed light on the fact that it was he who brought down the Fallen
+ Jill's letter to Clive is so sweet and sincere; she truly loves him
+ Took a last look at the Wall of Memories... this game has so much heart, I am ready to end Ultima now, once and for all
+ That goodbye scene was already enough to make me tear up, but the FINAL FANTASY theme playing there gave me the rest, this is what makes FF what it is: a party of outlaws from varied backgrounds overthrowing an old order or otherwise saving the world, I remember how people were worried pre-release that there wouldn't be a party, but we ended up getting the biggest, most wholesome, and fleshed-out crew
Origin
+ Ifrit, Phoenix, and Bahamut teaming up to fight Ultima Prime was an absolute treat to me as a longtime FF fan, but Ultima seems way too powerful
+ Was that Dion's last stance? He had death flags all around him, but I was still hoping he would come out alive at the end...
+ Joshua seems extremely sick, I'm worried about his fate too
+ No, Joshua... I feel so sad, Clive's crying was really heart-wrenching
+ The fight against Ultima was FINAL FANTASY as fuck, and I mean that in the most positive way possible, it was a spectacle, especially beating Ultima up using the same Eikon powers, it felt so good persevering with Clive after everything he's been through, Clive had the stronger will forged by his bonds, also, that final punch was so amazing, I love this game
+ Clive remembering all of his memories with Joshua, seeing him hold the hand of baby Joshua was especially painful
+ And thus did our journey end...
+ I'm just floored and in tears; this whole game, this whole experience resonated so strongly with me, fate is no more, the world is ours, Clive and Joshua gave it all for the world, Dion as well
+ The Japanese ending song really opened my flood gates, I feel so sad and happy, it's a very bittersweet ending, the best kind
+ I'll need a day to process all this, but FFXVI definitely already has a very special place in my heart, "A Farewell to Fate" and a farewell to Clive, who I connected with deeply on his journey
+ "The world's yours now. Yours to do with as you please."
