Chapter 808: Damn, that's handsome!

Chapter 808: Damn, that's handsome!

While the hype around Final Fantasy and 'Advent Children' was still burning strong,

inside Nebula Games, Chen Xu was conducting the final tests for Final Fantasy with his team.

“Mr. Chen, this story…” In the office, Yang Xin, Ruan Ningxue, and others wore pained expressions.

During the previous 'Advent Children' involvement, no one felt anything particularly special. But upon entering the actual game development, seeing the series of character backgrounds and the main story,

everyone felt a sense of déjà vu; that familiar stab was back, and this time, the stab was swift, precise, and ruthless.

From main characters to important supporting characters, none were spared.

Even more insane, these seemingly minor characters also had dedicated DLCs to make them protagonists.

This naturally allowed players to further experience their tragedies.

“Although players might feel a bit uncomfortable then, aren’t we making changes?” Chen Xu, leaning back in his chair, clapped his hands softly.

In terms of the plot, Chen Xu had made numerous changes.

In its previous life, Final Fantasy VII was actually a tragic story, including Zack in Crisis Core.

However, in the later Final Fantasy VII Remake, the story was altered with the addition of a concept called Whispers.

These Whispers could be understood as fate, their existence meant to correct history to its intended path.

But the appearance of Sephiroth and Aerith created a singularity in fate.

Without such a setting, the original Final Fantasy VII in its previous life would have merely been a remake based on the original content. But with the inclusion of the unique Whispers concept, it undeniably represented the game's ambition and an interaction with the players.

Therefore, regarding this, Chen Xu made a decision to first let players experience the original story.

Because the Whispers concept actually requires players to understand the original story first to have a stronger sense of immersion.

And also a stronger urge to change regrets.

Although, from an artistic standpoint, tragedy is certainly more capable of moving people and making a deeper impression,

from a player's perspective, who doesn't want a truly happy ending?

So Chen Xu planned to divide the game into two versions. In the second version, the original fate would be rewritten by the players.

At the same time, in the base content of the first version, Chen Xu also enriched it, leaning towards the representation of the previous life's Final Fantasy Remake, emphasizing the roles of many supporting characters in the game.

For example, Biggs, Jessie, and Wedge in the original game were basically treated as nameless NPCs, but in the Remake, their roles were greatly expanded, especially Jessie, who even flirted with Cloud to the point of making him a little flustered.

Of course, why Biggs and Wedge were known to be alive, but only Jessie's fate was unknown, clearly demonstrated the bad intentions of the game developers in its previous life.

If popular, they live; if unpopular, they die.

Therefore, in the stories of these different characters, Chen Xu also planned a dual A/B storyline mode.

In version A, players would face various oppressive situations in the early stages of the game, including experiencing the encounters of characters like Vincent and Zack in the DLC.

And the introduction of Whispers in version B would bring new hope to the players.

“However, this new hope might be a little late,” Yang Xin quipped.

“Ahem… it’s not too late, it’s already under development, and we'll let players experience version A first. After all, players are getting impatient,” Chen Xu coughed lightly and said.

After all, if the Whispers setting were included, even if most of the art and combat systems could be reused, the detailed expressions and content would be too much for a single version. Although not as exaggerated as making an entirely new game, it was by no means a small undertaking.

So, the initial version would be released first to meet the players, and to let them accumulate their inner emotions, so that the power released later would be even stronger.

Ordinary players, and those interested in the game because of 'Advent Children', were completely unaware of Chen Xu's arrangements.

At this time, they were still happily anticipating the game's launch day.

………

“It's here, it's here, it’s finally time!”

At 12 PM, Song Ren looked at the game icon that had unlocked from gray in Nebula World, his face filled with excitement.

Today was the launch day of Final Fantasy.

Heaven knew how long he had waited for this.

Especially after watching the 'Advent Children' CGI movie and the subsequent game trailers, seeing Tifa and Aerith, the two main characters, his anticipation for this game was completely maxed out.

His last moment of such high anticipation was when he watched the Xenoblade Chronicles promotional trailer and saw Pyra, the Aegis of the Sky, appear.

With an excited heart, Song Ren immediately entered the game.

After a brief darkness, the prologue's cutscene appeared.

A modern city, where all machinery was powered by Mako.

Trains sped on highways, cars and bicycles weaved through streets where children played, and workers maintained the streets.

Then, to the cheerful melody of the 'Crystal Prelude', the game screen transitioned to a starry background.

The next shot moved to the night streets of Midgar.

Aerith, wearing a deep red dress with a red jacket, metal wrist guards, brown boots, and long light brown hair adorned with a pink butterfly ribbon, carried a flower basket and sold flowers on the street.

But then, as if she saw something in the crowd, she stood on her tiptoes, trying to look past the people behind her.

It seemed as if someone important, someone she had been waiting for, was there.

But the next moment, Aerith, not noticing the crowd, was accidentally bumped by someone.

The flowers in her basket fell to the ground, so she knelt down to put the fallen flowers back into the basket.

But when only one yellow flower remained, a passerby, carrying a box that obscured his vision, stepped on that yellow flower.

Looking at the yellow flower on the ground, Aerith carefully picked it up, then looked at the flower basket in her hand, lost in thought.

Slowly, Aerith pressed the flower to her chest, then slowly gazed up at the sky.

At the same time, the camera slowly pulled away into the distance.

The game title 'Final Fantasy' appeared in Song Ren's vision.

“Truly stunning! Although I'd seen it in the promotional trailer and 'Advent Children', experiencing it in an immersive game still feels incredibly impactful!”

Song Ren's mind echoed with the image of Midgar he had just seen, and he couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

This city alone was incredibly breathtaking, possessing a unique industrial beauty.

In 'Advent Children', many parts of Midgar couldn't be fully seen.

And Midgar in the promotional video was just a fleeting glimpse.

But now, upon entering the game, even though it was only the prologue, it offered a panoramic view of Midgar from above.

巨大的支柱支撑着米德加，将米德加分作上下两层，上层是神罗公司总部，下层是贫民区，上下层之间有螺旋铁道联结，下层按魔晄炉的位置被分为8个街区，火车坟场，教会都在下层。巨大的支柱支撑着米德加，将米德加分作上下两层，上层是神罗公司总部，下层是贫民区，上下层之间有螺旋铁道联结，下层按魔晄炉的位置被分为8个街区，火车坟场，教会都在下层。Massive pillars supported Midgar, dividing it into two layers: the upper layer, home to the Shinra Company headquarters, and the lower layer, the slums. Spiral railways connected the upper and lower layers. The lower layer was divided into 8 districts according to the location of the Mako Reactors, with the train graveyard and the church also in the lower layer.

And the Mako Reactors, which supplied energy to the entire city, continuously extracted Mako day and night, making Midgar resemble a giant pizza.

Shocking, this was the first impression all players had upon seeing this city.

As the prologue skipped, the game's camera quickly zoomed towards a specific part of Midgar.

With a whooshing sound, a train sped along the tracks.

Cloud, carrying his Buster Sword on his back, stood in the middle of one of the train cars.

Song Ren wasn't overly excited seeing Cloud appear on screen.

Although, compared to merely watching him in 'Advent Children', he could finally control him in the game!

But this wasn't what he wanted! Tifa? And that red-clad girl named Aerith?

They were the main points he was looking forward to!

Accompanied by sparks blooming from the train wheels on the tracks, the train, heading for its final station, began to slow down.

At the same time, the game's UI interface appeared before Song Ren, with the name of the area displayed in the upper right corner: Mako Reactor 1.

As the train stopped, a heroic young woman, along with a fat man and a thin man, appeared on screen. The trio easily took care of the guards.

Who were these three?

Song Ren was a little stunned looking at the trio, as these three characters had not appeared in 'Advent Children'.

Barret, who appeared next, was a familiar face.

Although he was just a supporting character in 'Advent Children', a member of the cheering squad, he and his daughter Marlene were quite memorable.

And judging by Barret's performance, he could certainly be called a tough guy.

“Let’s go, rookie.”

Stopping, Barret gestured towards the train.

As his words fell, the camera switched.

With a 360-degree aerial flip, Cloud, clutching his Buster Sword, leaped from the train car.

He knelt on one knee, his right leg crossed at a 45-degree angle, his right hand gripping the Buster Sword parallel to his body, while his other hand pressed against the ground, his head bowed.

Then he slowly rose, swung the Buster Sword through the air as if performing a flourish, brought it behind his back, and slowly lifted his head.

“Damn! So showy!” Song Ren couldn’t help but curse.

But he had to admit one thing: with Cloud's looks, this move was damn handsome!

(End of Chapter) <>