Final Fantasy XVI beated! I'll post some more in-depth thoughts later, but the last boss felt like something straight out of Persona (which makes sense since bonds is a major theme of the game). I was worried Clive would die at the end, and I was a little disappointed with how they justified it with the whole "oh guess I can't handle Ultima's powers after all" thing. It just felt a little cheap because I thought the last boss demonstrated Clive was worthy.
This also suggests Ultima's plan was doomed to fail from the start, which gives the ending a "Nier" type of vibe, like there was no way for anyone here to win. I mean, I guess it doesn't mean humanity is doomed, but it also doesn't feel like there's a way to improve their situation (other than developing technology to allow them to survive despite the Blight, which the Hideaway was working on, to be fair). Maybe the post-credit scene implies they did figure it out though. It's a bittersweet ending, but it feels heavy on the bitter and light on the sweet.