Shadow Hearts takes place fifteen years after Koudelka, 1913, in the same universe. On a branch of the Trans-Siberian Railroad in Manchuria, the game’s protagonist, Yuri Volte Hyuga (Urumof “Uru” Bort Hyuga in the Japanese version), hears a voice in his head telling him to rescue the young Alice Elliot, whose priest father was recently murdered in a most brutal fashion in Rouen, France. After an English gentleman by the name of philosopher Roger Bacon attempts to abduct Alice from the Japanese army himself, Yuri saves her, and starts a quest through China (and eventually Europe) to discover Alice’s importance, Bacon’s intent, the identity of the mysterious voice, and his own relevance.