what's wrong with that? it's like a floater but less horrifying.

It looks like it came straight outta like final fantasy or something

Isn't the whole point of XCOM 2 is that aliens actually managed to conquer earth? Even in the first game it was heavily implied that aliens were highly spiritual; that thing might be some sort of religion-themed support-type unit or possibly a police-type security unit.

Im still not seeing where finalfantasy's "Gods of heaven + technology" aesthetic really fits, compared to what else we've all seen of XCOM more consistently

Except they still have soldiers on the streets
soldiers and snake people and mechas and all kinds

The ethereals dont fit with the militaristic theme because theyre not supposed to
I would think the situations you find them in theyre not even supposed to be there, ideally

But even then the ethereals' design manages to dodge the fantasy look by also looking adequately alien, in just the right ways not just the degree, that they manage to avoid looking like some kind of storybook trope or finalfantasy heaven being

the blue and gold ****** though
looks like he crossed straight over
He doesnt look Xcom he looks out of place

The game isn't even out yet, and we don't really know the situations we will be encountering this enemy in, so I'm saving any judgement until then.
And from what little footage I've seen the actual aliens and heavier mechs tend to be more exclusive to rural areas or unique facilities while cities have ADVENT soldiers and turrets and whatnot.

still
Im only saying
he don't look right

"The Archon's appearance substantially differs from its grotesque floater predecessor, in order to reduce the negative response from humans. The visual design of the Archon is based off Egyptian gods, featuring ornate gold patterns and a muscular physique."
Straight from the wiki
Compare that dude to the classic Floaters. He may not look right to you, but the overall design idea behind it seems pretty logical when you take the game's setting into consideration.

atleast that explains why he looks straight outta final fantasy

and that's bad? if i can say one positive thing about FF is that it's designs are interesting.