fade.

Not to be confused with Faded

fade. (pronounced "fade point") is a survival horror game developed by ACS Production Studio Tokyo and published by ACS. Released in 2000 for the Dreamcast as an exclusive title. It is the first survival horror game by ACS, and is notable for its macabre and occult-oriented style of horror, as well as its usage of fully 3D environments.

In 2013, a remastered version of fade., alongside its sequel, fade.II, was included in fade.: Recollection, developed by Bluepoint Games and released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. This version features improved HD graphics as well as fully re-recorded dialogue by a new voice cast.

Gameplay[]

The game plays similar to most survival horror games. Players control either Darryl Roberts or Anna Thornton (depends on which disc is played) as they search for the truth behind the events that took place in the White Dove Orphanage many years ago, all the while fighting hideous monsters using guns or melee weapons, hunting for key items and solving puzzles to access certain parts in the game.

As with most other survival horror games of the time, the game utilizes what is now known as "tank controls", with Up moving the player forward, Down moving the player backwards, while Left and Right are used for turning, regardless of the camera angle. Movement can be performed with both the analog stick and the D-pad. Camera angles are usually fixed, though the game itself uses fully 3D environments, as opposed to the pre-rendered backgrounds used by other survival horror titles.

General actions such as checking the scenery, opening doors and picking up items are done with the A button. To attack, players must draw their weapon by holding down the R trigger, then attack by pressing the A button. The player may also run using the X button, turn their flashlight on and off with the B button, and strafe to the sides by holding down the L trigger and moving either to the Left or Right. Pressing the Y button allows the player to look around the area in first-person.

The game has no visible HUD (aside from a bullet counter that appears when the player is aiming), and the health status of the character can only be seen through the inventory screen, accessible by pressing the Start button. In the inventory screen, the health status is represented by a picture of the character's face, with the color behind the picture showing how strong the character is currently.

Blue: 100-75% of health left. The character is in perfect condition. The character can move around freely with very little to no problem.

Green: 75-50% of health left. The character, while damaged, is still in fair condition. A slight decrease in the character's running speed can be seen, but the character is still fine otherwise.

Yellow: 50-25% of health left. The character is in bad condition. The character will be shown to hold on his or her arm when in this state, and there will be another drop in running speed.

Red: 25-1% of health left. The character is in really poor condition and must be healed instantly or else he/she dies. At this point, the character will begin to walk rather limply, and will lose the ability to run until he/she is healed.

In order to heal their injuries, the player could pick up healing items, which are scattered around certain parts of the game, which are as follows:

Medicine

A bottle of herbal medicine said to heal sustained injuries. Heals a small amount of damage.

First Aid Kit

A box full of first aid items like bandages and medicine. Heals a significant amount of damage.

Painkiller

A syringe filled with some type of painkiller. Heals and negates all damage for a short period.

Throughout the game, the player could also pick up weapons, key items, ammunition and written files, which either tell more of the story or serve as hints to a puzzle. The player's inventory can house up to 9 items (which can be upgraded to 12 slots by picking up the Belt Bag). Some items, mostly larger weapons such as the Bolt Rifle and the Chainsaw, can occupy up to three slots in the inventory.

The player could save their game progress using altars, which are found in various "safe rooms" around the orphanage. These safe rooms also tend to contain several healing items and ammunition the player can pick up, as well as "Item Chests", which allow the player to free up their inventory by depositing any of their extra items for later use.

There are three types of Item Chests scattered throughout the game, color-coded as either red, blue, or green. Each type of Item Chest contains separate inventories, with each having 30 slots available for the player. The contents of each of the chests are only shared amongst other chests of the same color (e.g. an item placed inside a red chest cannot be retrieved from a blue or green chest).

At certain points in the game, the player would come across a strange red mark. This mark acts as a "portal" to an alternate reality known as the "Otherworld", identified by its gory, hellish environs. There are certain points in the game where the player must switch between the first and second worlds to obtain various key items and get around places that are inaccessible in the real world.

The original game is divided into two discs, with the first disc containing Darryl's campaign, the first part of the game, while the second disc contains Anna's campaign, which picks up right after Darryl's and concludes the story. The remastered version found in fade.: Recollection omits the two discs, and instead combines the two campaigns together.

Weapons[]

Unlike most survival horror games at the time, fade. puts a larger emphasis on melee weapons. Due to guns and ammunition being scarce in the White Dove Orphanage, players are encouraged to use melee weapons to fend off weaker monsters.

Ranged Weapons[]

Handgun

A semi-automatic 9MM pistol, simple enough and quite reliable. Uses 9MM parabellum rounds.

Shotgun

A sawed-off shotgun, quite heavy to carry around but packs quite a punch. Uses 12-gauge shells.

Machine Gun

An imitation model of a Tommy gun, can shoot bullets in rapid succession. Uses .45 ACP rounds.

Bolt Rifle

A bolt-action rifle, mostly used for hunting deer and other animals. Uses .30-06 Springfield rounds.

Service Pistol (Unlockable)

A standard-issue pistol from the S.O.S., some sort of secret agency. Comes with unlimited rounds.

Melee Weapons[]

Knife

A kitchen knife with a stainless steel blade, used for cutting fruit. Quite dull and has a short range.

Rusty Pipe

A pipe made out of metal, quite rusty but still sturdy. Pretty easy to carry, but not too powerful.

Fire Axe

An axe used by firemen, typically reserved for emergencies. Very heavy and very capable.

Chainsaw

A heavy duty diesel chainsaw, used to cut up large trees. Even a slight touch can slice up enemies.

Masamune (Unlockable)

A katana, said to be used by a legendary samurai. Its blade can cut through almost anything.

Story[]

The White Dove Orphanage, an orphanage located in a small town near Pennsylvania, USA. Back in the day, the White Dove Orphanage was a somewhat peaceful place. With nary a sight of anything peculiar or supernatural. Until one night changed the orphanage and the lives of its orphans forever.

October 6, 1979. 20 of the 24 children in the White Dove Orphanage were found dead on their beds. The deaths were sudden, and were believed to be caused by something inhuman. Three of them managed to escape. Meanwhile, another child, Emily, was never found. Since then, the orphanage has been closed down, and is now left abandoned.

It is now 1999. Twenty years have since passed following the incident. However, the survivors of the incident still bear the trauma from witnessing the horror that unfolded during that fateful night.

Darryl Roberts, one of the survivors, grew up to become a successful engineer, and also lived a peaceful and happy life with his wife Martha, and their newborn daughter, Jenny. However, despite his new life, he is still haunted by his past trauma from the orphanage in a daily basis, constantly dreaming about the deaths that he witnessed.

Meanwhile, Anna Thornton, another one of the survivors, used her struggles during childhood as an inspiration to create art, and became an artist. Painting particularly grim pictures that told several stories about fear and death. Like Darryl, she is continually disturbed by her memories of the orphanage, and how she lost a lot of her friends.

Thus, on the day of the incident's 20th anniversary, October 6, 1999. The two decided to finally solve the mystery once and for all, and re-enter the now-abandoned orphanage, in order to release the burdens from their past and figure out the reason behind the mysterious deaths during that night.

Disc 1: Darryl[]

The game begins with Darryl Roberts, having finally found the place that has been haunting him for over twenty years: the White Dove Orphanage. Bringing nothing but an old 9MM pistol, a flashlight, and a rucksack with him, he faces his nightmares once and for all to get to the bottom of things.

Later on in the game, he finds a cubicle in the girls’ washroom which is locked up tight. After opening up one of the cubicles, he found a mysterious mark on the wall on one of the cubicles that looks like it was drawn with blood. He touches the mark, and suddenly, a mysterious voice began invading his head with remarks like "yoi don’t belong here", as he begins to feel a strange pain on his head. Soon his vision starts blurring and he loses consciousness.

When Darryl woke up, he found himself in a hellish landscape surrounded by bloodstained walls and a murky atmosphere, and with barely any light. The mysterious voice then spoke again an told him that he had just entered the twisted purgatotry that is "the Otherworld". In the Otherworld, he finds himself face to face with a horribly disfigured monster. After killing the monster, he carries on.

The mysterious voice continues to guide Darryl throughout his journey in the orphanage. Later on, parts of Darryl's past get revealed, like his grudge against his biological parents, who left him in the orphanage, and him bullying the other children, including Emily. Eventually, it was also revealed that the mysterious voice is none other than Emily herself, seeking revenge against Darryl for all the time that he had bullied her during her childhood.

Near the end of the Disc 1, Emily eventually reveals herself to Darryl, wh calls her out for all the things that she has been doing. However, instead of listening to him, she instead unleashes "Mom and Dad", a pair of monsters closely resembling his biologocal parents, whom he hadn't seen in years.

Darryl was able to defeat the monster, and was about to shoot on Emily, when Emily sends the bullet back to Darryl, which fatally wounded him. Emily then walks away, leaving Darryl to die.

Disc 2: Anna[]

Disc 2 takes place a few minutes after Disc 1 ended, and begins with Anna Thornton, another survivor of the incident in the White Dove Orphanage. She had not brought any items with her, other than her lucky charm necklace, but this did not bother her.

As soon as Anna enters the orphanage, Emily's voice began to speak and told her to enter the girls’ washroom. Anna then enters the girls’ washroom after which Emily tells her to go to the Otherworld. There, Emily decided to play a little game of maze with her, ultimately leading into a room containing Darryl's lifeless corpse. Emily then tells Anna to take everything from Darryl's rucksack and go.

Later on in the game, it was revealed that Anna and Emily used to be best friends, as both of them were constantly bullied by the other kids, but on the day of the incident, the two had a fight, which is what ultimately caused Emily to turn sour against everyon, and summon the Otherworld monsters to kill the other children in their sleep. It was also revealed that the current Emily is nothing more than an apparition, as the real Emily had long died of starvation after being left behind by everyone.

Near the end of Disc 2, Anna decided to call out Emily as a friend for everything that she has done, to which Emily responds by physically attacking her, telling her that she should have died alongside everyone that day. Despite her protests, she was forced to fight Emily, eventually beginning the final boss fight against Emily herself, who has morphed herself into a gruesome monster, just like the rest.

Anna eventually defeats Emily, after which she apologizes to her former friend as she goes to escape, as the Otherworld had began to fall apart after the fall of Emily. Anna eventually makes a successful escape from the Otherworld and runs away from the orphanage, but not before bidding farewell to everyone who died in the Orphanage.

Endings[]

Depending on whether the player was able to fulfill certain requirements throughout the game, there are three possible endings that the player can get:

Good Ending[]

Years later, Anna debuts her newest masterpiece to the public: "Little Emily", which was created as a dedication to her old friend, whose grief caused her to turned to darkness, and was eventually killed by her best friend out of mercy. As the people applaud her latest work, she sheds a tear for her friend.

Meanwhile, back in the orphanage, Emily was shown to rise from her supposed "death". After this scene, the text "TO BE CONTINUED" appears.

Bad Ending[]

Anna then wakes up in a padded cell, her arms tied around with a straitjacket. She tries to let go from the straitjacket, but she was unable to. Eventually, it was revealed that she was hallucinating the whole thing in the orphanage, and that she had actually been killing her friends and co-workers.

Meanwhile, as soon as the guard leaves Anna in the padded cell, Emily was shown standing nearby. She then begins to smile and laugh in sheer glee.

Happyland Ending[]

The art style changes into more of a childish cartoon style, as Anna finds a key to something called "Happyland", where she found every single person person the orphanage who was thought to be dead, alive and in their 20s, as they frolick around in the bright and colorful landscape.

Soon, Darryl, alongside a cheerful Emily then walks toward Anna and tells her to join. Anna then smiles and decides to join them. Before the scene ends, the three were seen happily sliding down a rainbow.

Characters[]

Darryl Roberts

Age: 28

Voice Actors: Hideyuki Hori (JP), Michael Naishtut (EN; original), Liam O’Brien (EN; Recollection)

Darryl Roberts is an engineer who is currently living a peaceful life with his wife and daughter. Darryl was one of the few remaining survivors of the White Dove Orphanage incident, and has since been constantly haunted by all of the things he saw.

In his younger years, Darryl used to be a bully, often taunting and berating other children in the orphanage. However, the incident eventually triggered a change of heart for Darryl, as he saw the kids that he used to bully, dying in horrible ways. Darryl then proceeded to escape, but brought along two more children alongside him.

Darryl is a somewhat serious person. He usually remains unfazed when facing various things, unless it's about his past in the orphanage. Darryl is also a family man loves his wife and daughter more than anything else, and often thinks about what they are doing whenever they are not around.

Darryl has short brown hair and black eyes. He wears a brown bomber jacket with a white shirt underneath, blue jeans and black leather shoes.

Anna Thornton

Age: 26

Voice Actresses: Emi Shinohara (JP), Kimberly Forsythe (EN; original), Megan Hollingshead (EN; Recollection)

Anna Thornton is an aspiring artist known for her grimdark paintings, inspired by her past memories. Anna was one of the few remaining survivors of the White Dove Orphanage incident, and, like Darryl, is constantly haunted by her traumatic experiences.

In the past, Anna was constantly bullied by the other kids at the orphanage because of her odd and unusual personality. She only had one friend in the orphanage, Emily, who shared her struggles against bullying. In the night of the incident, Anna searched for Emily everywhere, but couldn’t find her. When Darryl found her that night, she was torn whether to stay or escape, but eventually went on to escape with Darryl, her mind still worrying about her friend.

Due to her experience with bullying, Anna tends to be reclusive and introverted, only showing herself amongst her few friends, or during art exhibits. Despite this, Anna values her friends and holds them in high regard because of a promise that she made to herself after surviving the incident that she will never leave a friend behind ever again.

Anna has shoulder-length blonde hair and blue eyes. She wears a blue open denim jacket, with a cropped red shirt underneath that bares most of her midriff, blue jeans and black sneakers.

Emily

Age: 5 (physically)

Voice Actresses: Ikue Otani (JP), Bianca Allen (EN; original), Cassandra Lee Morris (EN; Recollection)

Emily is the mysterious voice that constantly messes with the protagonists Darryl and Anna. Emily used to be a normal, if rather sickly, child, but is now nothing more than a vengeful soul seeking revenge against everyone from the Orphanage.

Life has been hard for Emily ever since she was young. She lost her parents at a young age, and was subsequently sent to the orphanage. There, she was met with lots of bullying, and a severe lack of friends. With no one to fall back on, she then found a mysterious book in the orphanage's library, with instructions for entering "the Otherword", which, along with her desire for revenge, eventually led to that fateful incident in the orphanage.

Emily is manipulative and ruthless. She wants nothing more but to make Darryl and Anna suffer by leading them to their breaking point. Emily seeks revenge against everyone from the orphanage for bullying her and leaving her behind all those years ago, and will stop at nothing until they are all dead.

Emily has long black hair and black eyes. She wears a short blood-stained light pink dress and is barefoot all the time. Due to being a mere spirit, Emily still has the appearance of a five-year-old.

Trivia[]

All of the guns in the game are based on real-life gun models, somewhat slightly modified to avoid possible legal action from the manufacturers.
- Handgun = Browning Hi-Power
- Shotgun = Ithaca 37
- Machine Gun = M1928 Thompson
- Bolt Rifle = Winchester Model 70
The unlockable New Game+ weapons are references to other ACS titles: the Service Pistol is modeled after the modified Beretta 92FS handgun used by Gino Alfonso and the rest of S.O.S. in the Critical Force series, and Musashi's Katana is a replica of the one used by Musashi Miyamoto in the Legendary Blades series.
Darryl's infamous line of "Is that a door right there? Looks like a door." was actually the result of a mistranslation in the script, which was wholly translated from Japanese. Nevertheless, the line became a popular meme among the ACS fandom, and was often used to highlight the game's rather poor translation and voicework.
In several concept artworks, as well as her 3D render in cutscenes, Anna is shown to have a navel piercing. However, due to graphical limitations at the time of the game's release, this is never reflected in her actual in-game model.