equipped, puzzle elements can react in multiple ways. Players can also use both in-game money and a bartering system to buy items, which can also be found in hidden chests scattered across the overworld. Items can either be food that is used to grant temporary buffs to the player's ability, or clothing that is equipped in their inventory. The player can also complete multiple side quests, such as obtaining items, hunting for treasures and racing opponents, that grant additional bonuses. Synopsis In CrossCode, players primarily control a mute character named Lea as she plays a fictional massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) known as CrossWorlds. It takes place in a physical environment on the moon Shadoon, where players control artificial "Avatars" that can regenerate at will and interact with in-game attacks and items. Plot The game begins with a young woman called Shizuka Sakai fighting her way to rescue her brother, but once she finds him, he dies in her arms. Some time later, a girl called Lea awakens inside a cargo ship with no memories of her past and is informed by a man called Sergey Asimov that she must play CrossWorlds in order to regain her memories. Shortly after, Lea is assaulted by a mysterious man known as the Blue Avatar, and is forced to escape into the gameplay area. Once reaching the game area, she befriends another player called Emilie and the two explore the game together, eventually joining the "First Scholars" guild. During a raid with the First Scholars, Lea is dragged away by the Blue Avatar and trapped into an off-limits area called the Vermillion Wasteland. She is confronted by Shizuka, who reveals that Lea is not human but an artificial intelligence called an "Evotar," based on the memories of Shizuka. After escaping back to the cargo ship, she also learns that Sergey used to work on the creation of CrossWorlds in the Instatainment Company along his friends Gautham Ranganathan, Shizuka and her brother Satoshi. These friends also took part in the Evotar Project, which was denied by Instatainment, until disappearing years before the events of the game. Once Sergey discovered Lea, he decided to help her recover her memories in an attempt to look for them. Back in the game area, Lea reunites with her friends and locates Satoshi and Shizuka's hideout. She learns that they, along with Gautham, were forced by a man