Really wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did. For all the surface Game of Thrones-ness--the aesthetic, the grim tone, the "corrupt nations warring amongst each other" framework--it's really a pretty classical Final Fantasy narrative, for better and for worse. Clive, who looks so much like Generic Grizzled Video Game White Guy on the cover, ended up being one of my favorite protagonists in the entire series, his vulnerability, politeness and general good nature belying his perma-scowl and gravelly voice in a way that's remarkably endearing.

The plot's a bit stupid (and it lifts quite a bit from uh, a certain previous title that Yoshi-P has worked on and is still currently working on); pretty much everything involving the Bearers feels at least a little bit hamfisted and sometimes outright tasteless in its attempts to draw parallels to real-world bigotry. But Yoshi-P and his team understand that a good way to get someone like me hooked is to give me something of a found family to care about (a la the Scions of FFXIV), and by the end I was more attached to Clive's gang than I ever could have expected. Ultimately, with all the promo material bringing the GoT influence front and center I was afraid it would adopt Martin's brand of cynicism, but FFXVI has a remarkably soft heart at its core, and, well, it got to me.

All that said I really hope this isn't a bellwether for where the series is headed.