Chapter Summaries

Players flocked to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim after learning that its elf follower Tania could appear in Nebula World, while Song Ren started a new MODded save that refreshed his Skyrim adventure. He recruited Tania and discovered that the MODs could let him bring multiple followers, leaving him imagining a crowd of women fighting Alduin.

• Nebula Games made Tania an exclusive follower companion for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim players, prompting many curious players to buy the game.
• Song Ren started a new save and used the expanded Character Creation presets to make his character resemble Geralt.
• Song Ren chose a background as an Imperial soldier in Solitude and began a new route with different NPC dialogue.
• Song Ren accepted the Jagged Crown quest, recruited Tania at a Whiterun tavern, and listened to her sing while they watched Skyrim at night.
• Song Ren noticed a MOD follower spellbook that could allow multiple followers and imagined them overwhelming Alduin in Sovngarde.

The Skyrim MOD tools renewed interest in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim as creators made new content, while Xenoblade Chronicles’ Torna ~ The Golden Country DLC completed the story of Addam, Hikari, and their companions. As both releases strengthened Nebula Games’ dominance, Chen Xu saw a popular MOD group announce plans for a romance MOD called Love Laboratory.

• MOD creators praised Nebula Games’ Skyrim tools and began making new equipment, outfits, and other additions.
• Torna ~ The Golden Country released and revealed the bonds and fates of Addam, Hikari, Lara, and Makoto from five hundred years earlier.
• Players praised Torna’s story, battles, and Easter eggs, while the characters’ tragic deaths left them emotional.
• Skyrim’s MODs and the Xenoblade Chronicles DLC overshadowed other games and frustrated competing studios such as Atari and FOW.
• Chen Xu read a forum post announcing that a well-known MOD group was developing Love Laboratory, with NPC romances and new gameplay.

Chen Xu reviewed Skyrim’s increasingly elaborate MOD scene and joked with Yang Xin and Ruan Ningxue about provoking player resentment. He hinted that Nebula Games had a new project whose characters had appeared in World of Warcraft, leaving the staff to hunt for clues across Azeroth.

• Chen Xu checked the Skyrim MOD community’s progress and told the team to overlook private player-made content while monitoring official content.
• Song Ren used follower and model MODs to make Skyrim characters dance, as creators increasingly added new quests, terrain, and gameplay.
• Chen Xu watched a MOD featuring tragic couples from Nebula Games’ titles and joked with Yang Xin and Ruan Ningxue about releasing a deliberately incomplete game.
• Chen Xu said characters from his new project had already appeared in World of Warcraft, but gave no clue to where they could be found.
• Yang Xin told Meng Zuo, Qin Yi, and the others that Chen Xu had hidden the new game’s secrets in Azeroth, leaving them eager to search.

Chen Xu revealed that Nebula Games’ new project would be Final Fantasy, an ensemble RPG accompanied by a CG animated film. He explained that the game and film would help expand the franchise’s and Nebula Games’ influence, leaving Yang Xin and the others eager to learn more.

• Yang Xin, Ruan Ningxue, Qin Yi, and their colleagues searched Azeroth for Easter eggs that might reveal Chen Xu’s new project.
• Yang Xin admitted she had already asked Chen Xu about the project, prompting her colleagues to accuse her of breaking their search pact before she offered to lead them again.
• Yang Xin and the others entered Chen Xu’s office and saw a new female character model on his monitor.
• Chen Xu revealed that the model was Tifa, a protagonist of a planned CG animated film, and described the new game as a glamorous, realistic ensemble RPG.
• Chen Xu announced that the new project would be called Final Fantasy and explained that he had chosen the installment associated with Advent Children to promote both the game and its franchise.

Chen Xu assigned Final Fantasy character work and discussed the production and release plans for The Spirits Within. Nebula Games announced the CG movie, stunning players and prompting speculation that it was connected to an upcoming game.

• Chen Xu gave Tifa and Alice to Yang Xin and Ruan Ningxue, while Qin Yi and Meng Zuo received Dr. Hojo to design.
• Chen Xu explained that The Spirits Within had been completed quickly with ample funding and that Nebula Games was still negotiating distribution beyond DVD.
• Chen Xu planned to make Cloud's story the main Final Fantasy installment and release Zack, Vincent, and Yuffie's stories as DLC.
• Song Ren learned from Zhang Yi that Nebula Games had made a movie and checked the company's latest announcement.
• Players were surprised by the CG movie announcement, and some began to suspect The Spirits Within was connected to a new game.

After Chen Xu revealed that The Spirits Within was a CG film promoting the upcoming game Final Fantasy, the movie drew widespread attention. Gamer Song Ren watched it, enjoyed its action and characters, and finished wanting answers to the mysteries it left behind.

• Chen Xu announced that Final Fantasy, a prequel to The Spirits Within, was in development, prompting players and the gaming industry to react with astonishment.
• Song Ren watched The Spirits Within, whose story followed Cloud as he recovered his resolve and fought Sephiroth amid a Geostigma outbreak.
• Song Ren enjoyed the film’s action, humor, and characters, especially the motorcycle chase and Cloud’s final battle with Sephiroth.
• Song Ren checked online reactions, where viewers praised the film’s visuals and characters while discussing its mysteries and shipping Cloud and Sephiroth.
• Audiences broadly enjoyed The Spirits Within as a commercial action film, though its unresolved questions left players eager to learn more from Final Fantasy.

Players watched the Final Fantasy promotional video, which revealed Cloud’s past, Shinra’s power, new characters, and a cross-dressing sequence. It left them with more questions about the story, while Sephiroth and the cast’s striking appearances drew widespread attention.

• Players eager for answers watched Nebula Games’ Final Fantasy promotional video after The Spirits Within became a hit.
• The video showed young Cloud telling Tifa he planned to join Shinra and become a Soldier like Sephiroth, then depicted Cloud meeting Sephiroth at a Mako Reactor.
• The trailer introduced a red-clad woman and showed Cloud cross-dressing at the Honey Bee Inn, along with scenes featuring Shinra, Rude, Red XIII, and a Mako Reactor explosion.
• Players discussed the trailer’s unanswered mysteries, including Cloud and Sephiroth’s history and the red-clad woman’s role, while praising the characters’ looks and Sephiroth’s imposing presence.
• Players treated cross-dressing Cloud as another playful Easter egg from Nebula Games.

Chen Xu’s team prepared Final Fantasy with a tragic first version and a later fate-changing version, while players remained unaware of the plan. On release day, Song Ren began the game, marveled at Midgar, and watched Cloud make a dramatic entrance.

• Chen Xu explained that Final Fantasy would first present the original tragic story, then use the Lifestream in a second version to let players change fate.
• Chen Xu planned richer roles for supporting characters and A/B routes that included DLC stories for characters such as Vincent and Zack.
• Song Ren eagerly launched Final Fantasy when it unlocked and watched Alice’s opening scene in Midgar.
• Song Ren admired Midgar’s industrial design and learned how its upper and lower levels were arranged around the Mako Reactors.
• Song Ren watched Cloud join Barret’s group at Mako Reactor No. 1 and was impressed by his flashy Buster Sword entrance.

Song Ren played through Cloud’s first mission with Avalanche, learning about Shinra’s mako extraction and meeting Alice and Tifa. After helping residents around the slums, he concluded that Cloud was less a world-saving hero than a mercenary working for whoever paid him.

• Song Ren controlled Cloud and Barret as they infiltrated and destroyed a Mako Reactor, learning that Shinra extracted the Lifestream to make mako.
• Cloud and Avalanche escaped the collapsing reactor, and Cloud briefly met Alice, who sold him a yellow flower.
• Cloud reunited with Tifa at the Seventh Heaven bar, refused to promise he would rescue her, and agreed to collect payments with her.
• Song Ren explored the slums with Tifa and learned that Cloud could raise his local reputation by helping residents.
• Cloud completed side quests involving lost cats, mutated rats and beasts, and the warehouse, earning payment and experience.
• Song Ren reflected that Cloud was working for Shinra, Avalanche, and the slum residents rather than acting as a heroic savior.

Song Ren played through Cloud’s mission with Jessie, learning more about Avalanche and witnessing Jessie flirt with Cloud after the motorcycle chase. The chapter ended with Jessie inviting Cloud over the next night, leaving Song Ren wondering whether Cloud’s looks could get him anything he wanted.

• Jessie asked Cloud and his companions to infiltrate a Shinra warehouse and reduce the explosives intended for Mako Reactor No. 5.
• Cloud and Jessie fought Shinra pursuers in a motorcycle chase, and Jessie kissed Cloud’s cheek after Song Ren replayed the scene for a better performance.
• Song Ren learned that Jessie joined Avalanche after her Shinra-employed father fell into a coma from Mako poisoning, and he summoned Ifrit in battle.
• Cloud and the others parachuted back to the Favela, where Wedge escorted Cloud around to check on their teammates and warned him away from Jessie's house.
• Jessie gave Cloud materia, hugged him, and invited him to visit the next night, prompting Song Ren to question her intentions.

Song Ren played through Cloud’s fall into the slums, where he met Alice and learned that Shinra called her a Cetra. After Alice urged Cloud to help Tifa, they followed her to Don Corneo’s district, where Cloud and Alice began searching for her.

• During the attack on Mako Reactor 5, Cloud fell into a church in the slums and met the flower girl, Alice.
• Reno and Shinra soldiers came to capture Alice, and Cloud learned that Shinra identified her as a Cetra.
• While taking a secret passage with Alice, Cloud heard her mention that she had once liked a Shinra SOLDIER, but the name was censored and Cloud reacted as if he recognized it.
• Cloud and Alice spotted Tifa in a carriage bound for Don Corneo’s place, and Alice insisted they rescue her before taking Alice home.
• After the carriage reached its destination without Tifa, Cloud and Alice sought information and went to a massage parlor, where its owner agreed to talk after Cloud paid for a massage.

Song Ren played through the arena, Honey Bee Inn, and sewer sections of Final Fantasy, while Cloud, Alice, and Tifa learned that Shinra planned to destroy Area 7. After the trio escaped the sewer, they entered the haunted train graveyard, where Alice and Tifa clung to Cloud as they investigated reports of ghosts.

• Song Ren struggled against Hell House in the underground coliseum, switched to Easy Difficulty to win, then changed the setting back.
• Song Ren guided Cloud through the Honey Bee Inn makeover and watched him debut in a dress before heading to Don Corneo's mansion with Alice and Tifa.
• Don Corneo revealed that Shinra planned to destroy Avalanche by blowing up the plate above Area 7, then dropped Cloud, Alice, and Tifa into a pit.
• Cloud, Alice, and Tifa made their way through the sewer and returned toward the Favela by a different route.
• The trio entered the haunted train graveyard at night, and Alice and Tifa grabbed Cloud's arms when they encountered a report of a ghost.

Song Ren watched Cloud and his companions escape the train graveyard, then mourned the deaths of Avalanche members Biggs and Jessie as Shinra attacked Area 7. After learning Alice had gone with Shinra to save Marlene, he followed Cloud’s group toward Shinra to rescue her.

• Song Ren watched Cloud and Tifa defeat the undead spirit and saw the ghosts ascend as blue starlight.
• Cloud and his companions reached Area 7 after Shinra had nearly destroyed the district and killed Avalanche members.
• Wedge fell from the tower, Biggs died after covering the others’ retreat, and Jessie died from her wounds while comforting Tifa and Cloud.
• Alice rescued Marlene from Seventh Heaven, then left with Tseng and the Shinra Soldiers to protect the girl.
• Cloud and his companions learned from Alice’s adoptive mother that Shinra sought the Cetra to find the Promised Land, and Song Ren focused on rescuing Alice.

Cloud and his companions infiltrated Shinra headquarters, rescued Alice, and were captured before finding the president dead and learning that Sephiroth was alive. They escaped Midgar and set out to pursue him, discovering a vast new world beyond the city.

• Cloud, Barret, and Tifa climbed toward Shinra headquarters and explored its visitor areas, where Cloud narrowly avoided being recognized.
• Cloud’s group found Alice in Hojo’s laboratory, learned more about the Cetra, and recruited Red XIII.
• Tseng and the other Shinra forces captured Cloud’s group and locked them in holding cells.
• Cloud and Tifa escaped their cell and followed a trail of blood to find the Shinra president dead, pinned to his desk by Sephiroth’s sword.
• Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Red XIII, and Alice defeated Rufus and escaped Midgar, then agreed to pursue Sephiroth as the world map opened.

Song Ren reflected on Midgar’s content and the mysteries Final Fantasy had left unanswered, while players discussed the game’s characters, visuals, and story. After leaving Midgar, Cloud began pursuing Sephiroth as the histories of Barret, Red XIII, Tifa, Alice, and the others started to unfold.

• Song Ren considered how Midgar’s separate areas, side quests, and minigames made Final Fantasy a huge time sink, despite Midgar serving mainly as an introduction.
• Song Ren listed unresolved questions about Cloud, Alice’s first love, Sephiroth, and the characters’ pasts.
• Players praised Final Fantasy’s visuals and accessible gameplay while speculating about its story and fearing more character deaths.
• Players were surprised that Midgar had only been the beginner area and that its many mysteries remained unanswered.
• Cloud set out to pursue Sephiroth as the stories behind Barret, Red XIII, Tifa, Alice, and the others began to emerge.

Song Ren watched Cloud’s memories of Sephiroth’s mission to Nibelheim, where Sephiroth discovered the truth about his origins and turned against humanity. The memory ended before Cloud’s decisive confrontation with him, leaving Cloud unsure how Sephiroth supposedly died.

• Cloud’s memory showed Sephiroth traveling to Nibelheim with Cloud and revealing that his mother was named Jenova.
• Sephiroth’s group investigated the Mako Reactor with Tifa as their guide and discovered monsters inside Mako-filled Incubation Pods.
• After Cloud suggested SOLDIERs might be like the monsters, Sephiroth searched the Shinra mansion and concluded that Jenova was a Cetra and he was her son.
• Sephiroth decided humanity had stolen the planet from the Cetra, massacred Nibelheim’s villagers, and struck down Tifa and her father.
• Cloud arrived to find Nibelheim burning, but the memory cut off before his confrontation with Sephiroth, whose later reported death Cloud could not explain.

Song Ren was impressed by Final Fantasy’s ensemble cast as Cloud’s party uncovered the painful pasts of its members and the people Shinra had harmed. At Gongaga, he learned that Zack had been Alice’s first love and a 1st Class SOLDIER, leaving him with new questions as the group continued its search for Sephiroth and reached the Sleeping Forest.

• Song Ren learned that Barret had once supported Shinra’s Mako Reactor in North Corel, but Shinra’s massacre cost him his wife, hometown, and arm, driving his desire for revenge.
• At the Gold Saucer, Cloud’s party welcomed the robotic cat Cait Sith as a new member.
• In Gongaga, Cloud’s group met Zack’s parents, and Alice revealed that Zack had been her first love and a 1st Class SOLDIER; Song Ren wondered why Cloud did not know him and why Tifa seemed familiar with him.
• At Cosmo Canyon, Red XIII learned from his grandfather that his father Seto had fought the Cetras and died a hero, and Red XIII howled beside his petrified remains.
• Song Ren learned that Yuffie sought Materia to free Wutai from Shinra and that Cait Sith was a Shinra-controlled robot whose operator, Leaf, became a double agent.
• Cloud’s party continued seeking Sephiroth, and the group arrived at the Sleeping Forest.

Song Ren watched Sephiroth kill Alice, then followed Cloud and Tifa as they uncovered the truth about Cloud’s past and Zack. After Cloud recovered his memories, the game unlocked a DLC story about Sephiroth and Zack, which Song Ren decided to play.

• Sephiroth killed Alice at the City of the Ancients, and Cloud lowered her body into the lake as players mourned her death.
• Cloud and his companions pursued Sephiroth to the Northern Crater, where Sephiroth claimed Cloud was a failed clone and manipulated him into handing over the Black Materia.
• Shinra captured Tifa, Barret, and the others, but Cait Sith, Cid, and their allies rescued them while Cloud disappeared in the chaos.
• Tifa entered Cloud’s memories in the Lifestream and helped him realize he had been an ordinary Shinra Soldier during the Nibelheim incident, not a clone.
• Cloud remembered that Zack was the SOLDIER he had imitated, and the game unlocked a DLC story about Zack and Sephiroth.
• Song Ren chose to play the DLC to learn more about Zack and Cloud’s past.

Song Ren played the Zack-centered DLC and learned how Zack, Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth became entangled in Shinra’s experiments and conflicts. After Zack met Alice and promised to build her a flower cart, Song Ren feared Zack’s story would end tragically, as he existed only in memories.

• Song Ren began Zack’s DLC, where Zack met Angeal and Sephiroth during a VR training exercise.
• Zack joined Sephiroth in investigating the disappearances of Angeal and Genesis and uncovered the Jenova Project G experiments that had made them deteriorate.
• Genesis and Angeal turned against Shinra, and Angeal confronted Zack as a winged monster before defeating him and sending him falling from Midgar’s upper plates.
• Alice woke Zack in the Favela, and the two became friends as Zack suggested selling flowers and promised to make her a prettier flower cart.
• Song Ren connected Zack’s story to Cloud and Alice’s later lives and worried that Zack’s fate would be tragic.

Song Ren played through Zack's DLC, following Zack's journey from Angeal's death to his own final stand outside Midgar. Zack entrusted Cloud with his dreams and the Buster Sword before dying, while Cloud remembered him and set out for Midgar.

• Zack defeated Angeal at Modeoheim, and Angeal entrusted him with the Buster Sword before dying.
• Zack escaped Shinra with Cloud, learned Alice had waited for him for four years, and headed toward Midgar with Cloud.
• Shinra's soldiers surrounded Zack outside Midgar, and he left Cloud in hiding before fighting them alone.
• As Zack lay dying in the rain, he gave Cloud the Buster Sword and entrusted him with his dreams and honor.
• Cloud remembered Zack, thanked him, and rose to continue toward Midgar while Zack returned to the Lifestream.
• Song Ren was devastated by Zack's death and connected Zack's request about Alice to her later death in Final Fantasy.