The story focuses on three mercenaries – Hana, Deke and Glas – who get caught up in the disappearance of a Hong Kong triad boss’s daughter. While a spy thriller at first, things quickly take a horror approach with demons getting involved. Though its gameplay offers improvements over other survival horror titles at the time, Fear Effect was renowned for its cel-shaded-like characters and FMV backgrounds.

Fear Effect has a sequel, Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix, which launched in 2001 to more acclaim. It also received a more contemporary follow-up with Fear Effect Sedna, though it received poor reviews. Square Enix also announced a remake, Fear Effect Reinvented, in 2017 but cancelled it last year. Stay tuned for more details on the original’s modern release in the coming months.