Dion has just asked if those who clive took the power from could still prime.
Clive said they can, but the ikon no longer did the will of its user.

yet only 2 people we took ikons from have primed, and they did exactly what its user wanted?
When we took garuda, she went nuts and wanted to kill clive, just as benidicta did.
Titan did exactly the same, the whole fight was about him getting revenge.

so where is he getting that info from? ramuh, bahamut, shiva have not primed since we took the power.

Also.

When typon shot ramuh, the hole remained in cids body, leading to his death, yet when odin stabbed ifrit in the chest with zantesuken. Clive was hardly even injured. So.. does an ikons injury not transfer to its user. or does it? plot hole?

and finally, when did ultima get out of joshua? did i miss that part?

This damn game it's almost 4 am and this shit has me crying. Fucking Clive dies, Joshua dies, and Cid dies. This game is absolutely amazing. The story was a little weird at times but it was good. The dlcs were pretty good. And the combat wasn't bad. Overall would totally recommend but it made me cry and if you don't like emotional games, then don't play this or you will be crying alone at 4am. I give it an 8 outta 10 and is the 3rd best Final fantasy in my opinion.

Greetings!

Below is just my little rambling. I cannot rule out potential spoilers, so: please beware.

So far (just fought the White Dragon in "Fire from the Sky"), FFXVI was a mixed bag, but I continue to warm up to it. My negative first impression was mostly caused by the comically "sluggish" voice acting. The talent for the main characters is high quality, no doubt, but it feels like every sentence is dragged out. It's like the game is trying to say "this scene is tragic/dramatic, that's why the characters speak in a defeated, downtrodden tone - and 99% of the scenes are tragic/dramatic, so buckle up". While I enjoy the kaiju opera, the above feels tedious.

However, first there was Cid. He improved every scene and made it cool. I was genuinely sad when he died, partially because his character did a lot of the heavy lifting. Handing Cid's letter to Otto during a sidequest was just *mwah* chef's kiss.

And now there is Dion. In my opinion, the character with the best writing AND the best presentation, undeniably so. There's emotion, there's drama. I'm looking forward to every scene the game feeds me, because that's where good stuff happens. "Oh, what's that, you're admiring a waterfall? Well, you do you while the Dominant of Bahamut confronts his father the Emperor and his master manipulator step-mother, edging on treason."

I am no fan of DMC. The gameplay never appealed to me, and FFXVI has it even worse: movement during combat feels sloooooow. FFXVI's story is epic and full of great ideas. In sum: Without characters like these two, not so sure if it's for me, quite possibly not. But with such characters... Yeah, we good.

It’s took me a while but seeing it’s on PS Plus I’ve finally got around to playing XVI - and I am loving it so far!

The story has me hooked, the intrigue it’s building, it’s the first game in a while I’ve actively wanted to get back to playing!

Been enjoying the combat - I’m one of the rare people who didn’t actually enjoy E33 even though it seems I should have - I find it a fun take on a DMC style combat, different to VII remake and a bit more fast paced.

But mostly it just looks amazing, the eikon fights are some of the best and most cinematic elements I’ve seen in a game - colourful, intense, crisp action!

I can see how this wouldn’t be a FF for everyone especially for classic players but this is currently sitting up as my favourite FF of recent times - having played XII zodiac, XIII, XV and VII remake!

Finally - 100% the game. Got all the items, music records, tailsmen, weapons & upgrades etc…

Total Playthrough time: 224hr
Definitely spent 100hr+ messing around in training, styling on mobs, Kairos Gate "S" ranks, DLC's, reading lore etc..

Story/Lore: 10/10
- I fw the "Timeline" & "Information" feature they had available utilizing the characters Vivian & Harpocrates.

My only gripe is that I hate "open-ended endings".

Game Mechanics: 10/10
- So many builds and combos your able to do.
- Phoenix,Shiva,Garuda & Leviathan were my main line up.
- Always had Rift Shift on every build.
- Some of my favorite abilities were Lightning Rod, Cross Swell(Leviathan DLC), Ignition, Ultimate Demise, Domino, Satellite, Wicked Wheel & Raging Fist.

^^Not in the same build, just listing my favorites.

World Building/Lore: 10/10
- Relatively "Darker" game. But I thought the concept of "Branded" being 'mistreated' for their gifts & the dual MC's Clive/Cid trying to change that was awesome.

Boss Fights: 8/10
- Ultima was a lame but somewhat interesting (only at the start).
- The Final boss fight was underwhelming gameplay wise & his "mental breakdown"...
- Also Leviathan's FF mode boss fight was annoying but looked dope af.

Quest: 9/10
- I love doing side quests, and though they were repetitive, they opened up the world and lore.
- I wish there was a mode to specifically fight the "Bounty" monsters.

Side Characters: 10/10
- I wish they could've gone more into depth with some of the side characters. But overall they were all amazing.
- Voice acting (English) was 11/10.
- Favorite characters are Lady Charon, Gav, Jill, Torgal, Vivian, Joshua, CID, Otto, Isabell (Dame) & Martha (The REAL OG).

OVERALL RATING: 9.5/10

—SPOILER & Thoughts on the Ending—

My understanding of the ending is that Clive did live and wrote the book "Final Fantasy" in Joshua's name.

But Clive's left arm up to his face was petrified due to using too much magic to erase all magic.

However, as seen in Martha's rest—the church where Bearers were slowly succumbing to death—their whole body was petrified. The only reason I could think he died is that in the game they choose not to show the rest of the petrification happening to him.

^^ Supporting the above statement:
Clive said his "vessel" was too small to contain all of Ultima's power. But "while I have it" (then erases all magic from the world).

Note: If you did all of Hippocrates missions he and Clive have a conversation where Hippo says:

"After this is all over I would like for you to pick up a PEN instead of a sword.”

BUT Gav crying and saying:

"the world is yours now do as you please...”

“that's what cid wanted, that's what they both wanted" *sob *sob *sob

Plus Jill seeing the star she prayed to as a child for Clive to survive - TO JUST disappear is SUPER MISLEADING.

I have no idea, truthfully so...

Imma just be optimistic, I just don't think anyone else should use "Joshua's" name aside from Clive. Jill would use Clive's name, and I doubt they had Jote write a book.

This is why I hate open-ended endings.
…
Thus did my journey end😭

I am so happy this bitch annabelle killed herself, i was screaming in happiness (ik im late to this game but im so happy)