Final Fantasy 16 - Story & Ending Explained

One of my favourite things about this game is just how much characters openly love each other. Lots hugging, kissing, touching foreheads and the like. It’s really refreshing to see how much the crew like each other and show with more than words that they hold each other dear. Like I was so happy to see Clive and Gav hug after Gav moved away the first time. I love that these guys love each other

One thing you missed about Jill, she didn’t grow up with the Rosfields because ‘she needed somewhere new to live due to the Blight’. The northern territories rose against Rosaria & after putting the rebellion down, the archduke took a northern Princess back with him as a ‘ward’ (hostage) to ensure they remained docile. Pretty common in medieval times to do so, often with the expectation that the ward would marry into the royal line thus uniting the factions and prolonging the peace.

I kept thinking Torgal would meet his demise, but we can all breathe a sigh of relief that he lives!

you miss to emphasize that 'magical' moment in where the kid start the fire manually using flint. It's the very goal of cid and clive to make a world that does not rely on magic /crystals. A world that will now start to think, invent and innovate.

It is likely Clive didn't die. The curse stopped at his hand as magic was wiped from the world. Sidequests imply Clive wanted to be a writer. It is likely he wrote the book and used Joshua's name to keep his memory alive. Also, it is heavily implied Metia granted Jill's wish (Clive returning with the Dawn) and Torgal holwed (sending a signal to Clive) as opposed to whimpering like when Cid died. Great video.

The ending cut me deep. Themes like brotherhood and sacrifice for your loved ones always just messes me up. It doesn't help I'm an older sibling so Clive's love for Joshua is extremely relatable to me haha.

I believe there are significant hints Clive survived. Allow me to explain. Jill's wish to metia and the symbolism associated with it. In addition in a side quest she claims Clive returning to her is "her sunrise" and what's the last thing we see Jill doing? Watching the sunrise. Clive is only explicitly shown as losing his left arm, which is the same arm he used for the final spell. He shows no other injuries. But the real smoking gun for me is the book in the epilogue. Hypocrates gifts Clive a quill and states his desire for him to write his story to which Clive agrees. We know for certain Joshua died as he did not wake up after Clive healed him. "not even the phoenix can bring someone back to life." So how then could Joshua have written the book? Well we know Clive has a habit of taking names from those he's lost and immortalising his brother through the book is certainly something Clive would do. Clive also acts as the narrator at the beginning and end of the story. The book reframes this as Clive retelling the events of ff16 through his story. Rpgs have a habit of giving golden endings based on additional content completed and most of these hints are dropped in side quests. Ultimately clives fate is ambiguous but I believe there are far too many hints dropped to say he died for certain.

If nothing else, Clive was a phenomenal protagonist. I loved his struggle, growth and deep relationships with his friends and family. I don’t think I’ve been that invested in a FF main character before except maybe Zack from Crisis Core. Bravo CBU3!

"The only Fantasy here is yours. And we shall be its Final witness!" - Clive Rosfield FFXVI

DLC focusing on the other Dominants would be great. I would love to play as Barnabas in his trek to become King of Waloed before he became thrall to Ultima.

FF16 has one of the best supporting casts in any Final Fantasy game, hands down. There’s not a single member of the Hideaway who feels poorly written or out of place. I enjoyed each and every single one of them. They did the legwork with their writing to make sure players would care deeply for these NPCs, fostering a familial connection with the Hideaway, and it makes moments like Clive, Joshua, and Dion departing for Origin hit all the harder.

Gingy makes not only some of YouTubes top quality retrospective\story analysis videos, he also seems to be capable of making the most at the fastest pace, with no seemingly tangible tradeoff in the quality of depth of analysis. Gingy is truly just built different. Makes me want to give the dude my money.

It seems you missed the conversation after we deceat Kupka for the final time, between Barnabas and Slepnir where Sleipnir says "kupka gave his life for a womans head." I thought it was obvious that it was her head in a box and obvious that someone wanted Kupka to go after clive and cid. This was all Barnabas doing to further Ultimas plan, he never cared for Benedikta she was just another pawn in Ultimas game.

Ultima is a godly entity that had split his physical body to possess each mother crystal in order to absorb the aeither, so upon breaking each mother crystal released a body of Ultima which would return to the original body in Waelood in order for him to attain much more strength. That isn't confusing, Ultima actually explains this at the end.

10:30 due to the themes of will, I think it was their will being broken that prevented them from being able to prime properly. both benedikta and hugo had their wills broken by clive, but dion still had his will to atone for his sins against his people.

If a DLC ever comes, i want it to be a dominant of Leviathan, it doesn't make sense but i could see it working. He/she could be like a forgotten dominant and the story could take place somewhere outside Valisthea, since Barnabas came from another land.

I hope they do a Final Fantasy XVI-2. Explore other gods like Ultima tryin' to fight over this promised land thing. And those boss battles, my god they're so dope

I really think the ending was left open to interpretation so that if they choose to make a sequal or DLC, they can have a route with, or without Clive. More than likely Clive survived, and the Final Fantasy book was either written by either Joshua himself who clive healed with Ultima's power, or the child of Clive and Jill as its implied with the ending text, and scences through the story the possibility she waa pregnant and named there son after Joshua. So many ways this story could go. I truly hope we get some DLC or a sequal. I mean FFX got it, we can only hope and if SMRPG can get a remake, anything is possible!

This has to be in the top 3 best games ever made. Everything fits so perfectly down to the smallest detail, the theme, the story, the gameplay, the epicness of every fight, the characters, the characters' development, the dialogues, the music , the voice acting . Everything. It's one of the most mature games I've ever played in my 30 years of gaming. By the end I was expecting (wishing) the typical explanation of every little detail that was presented during the game, like, who are the Fallen, why/how exactly did they go extinct in the war against the gods, what happened at the crater of Dzemekys, why was Clive chosen as the Vessel of Ultima, how/why were specific people chosen as Dominant, why did some people become Bearers and others didn't... but you get just what you need and nothing more. Like in real life, you don't get all the answers when you reach the end of your path, and you have to choose how to live your life without knowing if the path you are taking is the right one. I'm not even too interested in knowing if Clive survived or not, it would be heartbreaking if he didn't, but that's not relevant to the story, nor to his development. He went from being an innocent, brave, talented kid, to a tormented anti-hero who killed his brother, to a hero struggling with his demons, to an all out wise Man who can lead others to freedom at his own expense. This game is an absolute masterpiece.

Hi Gingy! love the content. I just got my PS5 & FFXVI so i’ll revisit when i finish. Keep up the great work! Love your vids, your metal gear vid helped me get through multiple lunch breaks this past week.