Armored Xehanort in ReMind. Find out why at a later date.

Nero finally getting his full Devil Trigger. It's a beautifully somber, yet completely triumphant declaration by Nero to protect what he still has and not have a repeat incident like with Credo. With this, Nero finally ends the vicious cycle of violence between Dante and Vergil in one of the best fights in any video game.

The final fight with Merlina. This fight explores the difference in ideologies between Sonic and Merlina regarding the sanctity of life and the dangers of stagnation. It's the most nuanced a Sonic game ever gets, and is in a way the final boss of this entire franchise. Also, With Me rips so goddamn hard.

January. Nothing I say can properly do that section of the game justice, but I still stand by the entire month of January being peak SMT.

The night before the final battle. For as grim as this series gets, the night before everyone goes off to face off one of the series' biggest threats is intensely wholesome. It's a nice reprieve from the more dour and gloomy vibes from the rest of the game and offers some of the most heartwarming moments in any Falcom game.

I think this is the best characterization of Specter in the series. Yeah, his plan involves the earth being split in two (don't worry about the logistics, we'd be here all day), but the reasons behind it are actually quite noble, just wanting to be left alone with his species and genuinely wanting the best for them. It also serves a greater purpose recontextualizing the series that I won't spoil here, in case I talk about the game in more depth one day.

This is my only experience with the Xeno series, but quite frankly, it'd be one hell of a task to top The Key We've Lost.

The way the game contextualizes the past in order to carry out its themes of confronting the past comes to a head in the game's final hour, fighting a man stuck in the past trying to maintain whatever order is left. It'd be a shame if the next major Tales game just had nothing interesting to say regarding its world and themes and instead ended up being VERY problematic in a very weird guy way.

I have nothing meaningful to say here, I just think Deadlocked is the peak of the franchise.