elkie alyx

The ending of Final Fantasy XVI absolutely broke me, but in the best way... it wasn't some bleak tragedy, but a hopeful vision of a future where humanity can finally unite, live in peace, and thrive in a safe, secure world stripped of corruption, rampant magic, and those giants that shattered everything they touched. The way the game portrays magic itself, drawn from the aether draining Mothercrystals, and these godlike Dominants wielding their destructive powers to fuel endless wars between nations... it hits so hard as a mirror to our own world. People, or nations with that kind of overwhelming power can shatter peace in an instant, and the constant fear of living under their thumb just erodes humanity's true nature, our freedom to simply exist without dread. Humans are not meant to cower and survive in terror, that's no life. That's why Clive and the others fight tooth and nail to liberate their broken world from the chaos sown by these weapons of mass destruction, the crystals and Eikons that cursed the land with the Blight and turned people into slaves or monsters. Destroying those sources of power was the ultimate key to peace, and Clive embodies that sacrifice perfectly. In doing so, he destroys himself, but damn, he was at total peace. That hit me right in the soul and had me ugly crying because this man fought for decades, avenging his family, freeing the bearers, honoring Cid's dream, protecting his loved ones, all to make countless wishes come true for a broken world. He fulfilled it all and finally got his rest. The message lands like a gut punch, as long as weapons of mass destruction exist in our world, true, lasting peace is just a pipe dream. Storywise, it's peak fiction, I can't find a single flaw. The music? God tier. And the cinematic animations in the boss are straight up godly... It was cinema.