At this point, there is not a lot more for me to say about the game. It's a fun game, but doesn't have a lot of variety. The only thing I had trouble fighting in the last several hours is that S ranked hunt. But other than the battles, there is literally no challenge to this game. There are no puzzles to figure out, nothing you need to search out on your own (everything is marked, and most chests are garbage), no platforming section, maps are mostly linear, etc.

The strong point in the game is the narrative, which has paced out very well. Waloed has been a thorn in Clive's side the whole time but never the top priority. That is good buildup to this final stretch. Barnabas's power and menace is clear, though a little one dimensional. The one big drawback to the narrative is how bleak it is, and demotivating. There is just not a clear compelling case made that what Clive is doing will make things better. At this point, stopping Ultima will clear up the old 'pending doomsday' scenario but before that and even during, there is not much good that comes out of Clive's actions. Yet another major city gets destroyed with thousands of people killed because of the plot. There is constant reference to people starving once they can't use crystals. It feels like 70% of the population smurfed at this point. There are a few holdover settlements trying to make things better but basically all the major cities are in ruins, and those people suffering.

Although the sidequests are pretty generic, how they complement the story is fantastic. I like the progression in quests for all the side characters, and how it ties into the broader narrative. Maybe the best I've seen in terms of synchronicity between main plot and side quest plots. The end of Blackthorn's quest line gave me some hope for this world.

Final thoughts: the part where Joshua, Byron, and Gav all fought alongside Clive was awesome. And the naked on rocks scene was weird!