Fear Effect

Story

The story is set around the year 2050, and when Wee Ming, the daughter of a powerful Hong Kong triad boss, disappears, a trio of mercenaries search for her in the city. They weren't hired to find her, but they want to kidnap the girl before her father's men find her and demand a ransom for her. Wee Ming has disappeared into the fictional Shan Xi Protectorate; Hana Tsu-Vachel, the main character and femme fatale of the group, used to work in a brothel somewhere in that region. Hana arrives in Hong Kong accompanied by her partners Royce Glas and Jacob "Deke" DeCourt. What starts as a simple robbery turns into a fiasco: the runaway's father, Mr. Lam, attributes his fortune and power to a pact he made with demons long ago. Wee Ming, a paper doll brought to life, is to serve as a sacrifice to Yim Lau Wong, the mythical "King of Hell." Hana's contact in Mr. Lam's organization, Jin, is discovered, tortured, and left for dead with a bomb strapped to his chest. Hana frees him, but he is killed shortly after. Meanwhile, Glass is attacked by a VTOL jet and forced to flee to Mr. Lam's building. After avenging Jin, Hana is captured and beaten up by Mr. Lam and his thugs. Glass is able to rescue Hana and the duo flees, where they meet Deke in front of the hotel where they are staying. While listening to Jin's last message for Hana, the trio is thrown off a bridge but are able to swim to a junk. As they travel down a river, Deke spots Wee Ming in the middle of a burning village. Deke and Glass give chase while Hana suits up, but all three are separated by the undead villagers. They come across a military train where the enemy soldiers, fearing the villagers, shoot anyone who sees them. Hana and Deke destroy the train trying to steal it, but Glas manages to find a jeep with Wee Ming in it. She asks to be taken to Madam Chen's restaurant, which is also a brothel, in hopes of finding answers to her existence. When Glass is caught sneaking into the brothel, Mr. Lam surprises him and cuts off his left arm. At the same time, Deke is murdered when he tries to infiltrate the brothel from above. Hana sneaks in by disguising herself as one of the prostitutes. There she meets Wee Ming again after being dragged away by Madam Chen, who works for Mr. Lam. Wee Ming's powers are activated after she is splashed with Deke's blood, turning the workers and Madam Chen's thugs into demons. One-Armed Glass awakens in a meat freezer and is surprised to find that he is still alive; he suspects that Mr. Lam is planning a slow death for him. Wee Ming arrives and tries her best to help him. When Hana rushes to her former boss, Madam Chen, she learns that Chen is actually a demon in disguise. In the ensuing battle, Chen and her henchmen are killed, but Mr. Lam disappears with his daughter through a portal to hell. Determined to save Wee Ming from the fate Mr. Lam has in store for her, Hana follows the two into the portal as Glass reawakens and frees herself to pursue them. On a surreal journey through hell, Hana encounters the Black and White Guardians of Impermanence, who give her cryptic messages about her fate. Glass encounters the reanimated corpse of Deke, who is being tortured for the many murders he committed. Deke takes on a grotesque demonic form and attacks Glass. After he is victorious, Glas promises to avenge Deke. Meanwhile, Hana confronts Yim Lau Wong, who tells her that Hell is overloaded with the souls of the guilty. Once Wee Ming returns to the underworld, Yim Lau Wong can expand hell and devour the earth. Hana was chosen to watch over Wee Ming because Yim Lau Wong wanted someone "merciless" to be her protector. Glass reappears and tries to kill Wee Ming because he believes she is the root of chaos. During the tense confrontation between Hana and Glass, the player is given the choice of which of the two should die. This decision decides the final boss and the later ending. On the Hard difficulty level, there is a third option: to spare the lives of Glas and Hana. In this ending, the two emerge from the smoldering wreckage of the brothel, where they see a confused Deke sitting on a toilet. Deke doesn't remember being killed, but thinks he was hit in the head and asks how they made the "deal." As he hoists himself out of the pit, Glass is stunned to find that his left arm is fully restored. The three partners head out into the sunrise to continue their exploits.