For years now, the Shinra Electric Power Company has been providing the world with energy at the expense of the lifestream, the “river” whence all life flows and whither it returns. After storming the company’s headquarters and engaging in a series of battles for the ages, Cloud and his companions leave Midgar behind and set out for the wider world. Once in the grasslands, they hop aboard chocobos and embark on a journey with an unknown destination.

Meanwhile, Zack—beaten and battered from his fight against an army of troopers—hobbles across the wastelands into Midgar with a mako-poisoned Cloud on his shoulder. Though he has managed to escape death for now, the ominous rift in the sky gives him little reason to rejoice.

That is hardly the only threat facing the world, however. The Shinra Resistance Committee, backed by Wutai’s interim government, declares war on the company; figures shrouded in black robes carry with them the corpse of Jenova, a veritable calamity from another world; and the Weapons—fierce and monstrous guardians of the planet—have recently awakened.

Amid this chaos, Sephiroth has set his plan in motion, thus ensuring myriad fates intertwine and are birthed anew.