Threads of Fate

"This game's unique, endearing characters will capture your heart forever"

Threads of Fate, known as Dewprism in Japan, is a somewhat unknown (and somewhat hard-to-find) action RPG made by Squaresoft way back in '99. The story follows the adventures of Mint, a de-throned princess bent on world domination; and Rue, a young man determined to bring back his friend Claire after her murder before his eyes by the mysterious 'Arm of Death', on their separate but inexorably entwined quests to find an ancient, powerful relic.

The first of many unique things you will notice about this game is that, in fact, it is TWO games in one! Er, well, two storylines, anyhow. When you start a new game, you're given the option of playing as either Mint or Rue, and each of those characters has a separate story to be followed, despite them interacting in the same world. Once you finish the first character's story, you can play through the next, and see how they tie into each other! Unfortunately, the stories don't fit perfectly together (there are some contradictions) but it makes things very interesting -- Rue's view of the world is very, very different from Mint's, as are the events in each of their stories.

...Speaking of which!

Story/Characters: 9.5/10

The plot of Threads of Fate doesn't seem like the most original thing at first glance; without going into detail, it's the adventure of two characters going after an ancient relic of infinite power, made by the most powerful Aeon (a horribly powerful extinct kind of magician). However, pretty much everything in this game is approached in an unorthodox way. None of the 'magicians' you encounter in the game have anything to do with that studious, book-reading, spell-casting stereotype we all know; most of them are just crazy eccentrics. XD Thankfully, the plot mainly revolves around the characters and their relationships rather than hardcore boring fantasy wizard story (which, thankfully, there is none of), and oh, the CHARACTERS.

The characters in this game are, well... many of them are nuts. XD Mint is about the craziest (ex-) princess you will ever meet, wanting nothing to do with ruling any kingdoms or passing any laws, and being run out of her kingdoms by none other than her horrible fear of pumpkins. Most of her story revolves around her desire for revenge against her sister (who drove her out of the kingdom) and of course, the only way to do it is world domination. She is incredibly selfish, rude, and cocky; but she has the will to back it up.

Rue, on the other hand, is very conscious of himself and the people around him; and although ruthlessly determined in his goal, wants nothing more than to save his friend Claire. Rue is also quite the mysterious character, but not in the average cliche way; he has the strange power to transform into monsters, unlike most humans... and I won't say any more than that, because the mysteries surrounding Rue comprise a large amount of the plot.

There is also a large cast of important characters that Rue and Mint encounter, but there are so many (and they are all, somehow, non-confusingly key to the story), I couldn't possibly go into all of them!

The cast is wildly varied, ranging from Rod (the Blade Star), a red-haired, strangely dressed vagrant weaponsmith and swordsman, who knows you "gotta have heart"; Duke, one of your rivals searching for the relic alongside his constant companion, Belle, to use it to pay off debts... who somehow gets his power and techniques from reading books and manga, Elena, a somewhat slow (but adorably and non-obnoxiously cute) girl who is convinced Rue is a Pollywog, and not the other way around, Fancy Mel, the most um... eccentric, er... interesting, uh... weird magician with horrible taste in interior decorating... I could probably go on for hours just describing them.

The real treasure this game holds is in its characters and their relationships; they are approached in such a real, true way, and not contrived in any sense. The character depth in this story is much, much greater than I have seen in even Final Fantasies, and after finishing the game I was honestly truly sad to be leaving them... and so will you, if you're anything like I am.

Gameplay: 8/10

Gameplay in Threads of Fate is fun and intuitive for the most part, especially the battles. Its battle system is very friendly to new players, and is in real time -- there are no random battles as the monsters just appear in the areas you are going through -- think (sorry for the comparison) Kingdom Hearts. Most monsters can be defeated with normal attacks (using X), but some require you to use your characters' special abilities.

Mint and Rue both have different special abilities -- Rue can transform into monsters you have recently fought and use their skills, and Mint uses her hoop-like weapons to cast (quickly!) magic. While playing as Rue, it's good to study the abilities that different monsters have so you can know which ones to use to solve the game's various puzzles, and while playing as Mint, you pretty much just have to use logic.

The magic system in Threads of Fate (which only Mint uses, by the way) is in no way like most other RPGs; magic comes in seven colors and effects, and by combining a color with an effect, you create a spell. If this sounds complicated, don't worry, it isn't; each color is a type of magic (blue is water, white is normal, red is fire, etc) and the effects just change what the spell does, like targeting one enemy versus spreading in all directions. Magic is used quickly and easily in the middle of battle by simply holding down square and selecting a color and an effect, and it soon becomes second nature.

Rue also transforms in the same way; by holding down square and selecting a monster, and each monster's attacks (with corresponding buttons) are listed next to their name so you know which one to pick.

Traveling around is easy -- camera angles are not at all annoying and can only be adjusted inside buildings -- but the game does have some challenging puzzles and obstacles in your way. This isn't because the puzzles are hard to solve, they aren't, but timing jumps right may be difficult for you if you're not used to playing platform games and the like (I'm sure not). After a few tries, you should get the hang of it, however... the controls are easy, and it doesn't make the game unplayable, it's just a matter of timing and (a little) skill.

Music: 8/10

By no means is the music in this game a wonderful symphonic masterpiece, but it is pleasant-sounding, a little catchy, and fits the game quite well. Many characters have their own theme music, which capture their personalities just perfectly -- when you hear the tune, even if you've only heard it once before, you'll know exactly who's about to appear. Most of the music is cute and nice, and even the tune that plays in the town of Carona, where you spend quite a bit of the game, does not get annoying or grate on your ears at all, even at the end of the second story.

There were only a couple songs I did not like, and they only played about three times total throughout both storylines -- except the minigame music, which was just as terrible as the minigames... but thankfully you're only subject to it once for each game. =_=;

Overall the music is very nice, though simple, and fits its characters as well as the graphics do.

Graphics: 8/10

The graphics in this game are excellent for a PS1 game. The graphics are vibrant and colorful, but not overly so, and I found myself just sitting and admiring the details in several locations many times. Their quality is consistent throughout the whole game, too, and they never look bad -- I mean, come on, this is a Square game we're talking about!

The characters are made in a charming, subdued (and not, when necessary) anime style, and all look fresh and full of personality (as they are). Faces are very well drawn and fun to look at, and although they do not change expression often, their eyes do move to look at one another, and they all have their own individual movements and gestures that only that character will make -- and when they do change expression, the expressions are very well made and evoking of emotion.

Character designs are all very unique, each character is most definitely an individual in terms of how they look, as well as their personality and the music that accompanies them. Even the most minor characters have their own interesting design -- character models are never re-used!

The monsters, too, are all very unique and most of them are fun to look at -- it's all a matter of personal preference with monsters, of course. They range from adorably cute (the Pollywog) to amazingly impressive (Wylaf - the dragon) to the more bizarre (Djinn). No monsters are re-colored, given a new name, and tossed back in -- with the exception of the black-and-red Pollywogs that live in fire areas (which are in every other way the same as other Pollywogs), monsters are never re-used, either.

Overall: 8.5

I loved this game, but as any game, it wasn't 100% perfect. The characters were all very strong, and the story was very consistent, as was the rest of the game, but it felt like it was cut a bit short in the end... at about 24 hours of gameplay, it wasn't really the longest game.

However, I still loved it -- the gameplay was fun (transforming! <33) and in the end, the characters all captured my heart... and still haven't let it go.

When you see Rue, can you tell him to use a relic to give me my heart back?

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/01/07