Threads of Fate

"A good Square game without the words "Final" or "Fantasy" in the title?! Get real!"

If you're a gamer, you've very likely heard of Square-Enix., the Japanese company popular for turning out RPGs, namely Final Fantasy titles. But every now and then, Square releases a game that isn't part of a series and is able to prove that it knows a thing or two about making a good game. Threads of Fate (ToF) is a good example of that. While it's far from the kind of experience you'll get from most FF games, it's nevertheless a good play.

STORY

There are two separate stories in ToF; the first follows a boy named Rue. It starts on a cold night when a mysterious figure with a freakishly big hand appears out of nowhere and kills Rue's only friend, Claire. From then on, Rue goes on a search for Valen's [relic], an ancient item that is said to be able to grant wishes. His main goal: use the [relic] to raise Claire from the dead.

The other story focuses on a spoiled, bratty princess named Mint. She's the heir to the throne until her sister is given that right instead of her. Mint, too, goes on a journey to find the [relic], except she's out for world domination.

The game's cartoony look and E rating might immediately be an indicator that the story is incredibly simple and childish. That's misleading, but not to a huge extent. While the story is far from the best I've seen in any Square game, it actually is surprisingly well written and usually enough to grab the player's attention. But as stated, it's nothing huge or incredible, although it is much better than you will probably first expect it to be. It also has a few twists-some predictable and some not.

As expected, the story focuses majorly on most of the characters, and ToF actually doesn't have a half-bad cast. Most of the characters are given at least some personality or quirk, including some of the baddies fought along the way. The game doesn't develop them a WHOLE lot, but enough to pass.

GAMEPLAY

The gameplay is almost identical for both Rue's story and Mint's. Battles don't take place on a separate screen; instead, an enemy appears on screen and you simply take your character and hack away at the enemy. (very similar to a hack'n'slash like Kingdom Hearts) When you're not in a dungeon, you're usually in the town (yes, THE town...as in there's only one) and given the option of whether or not you want to go somewhere else or stay at the inn and rest up, visit someone, or upgrade your weapons. This brings me to two points: first, there's no overworld or something similar involved, so whenever you want to go somewhere, you go through the town gates and select which place you want to go to, and you're automatically taken there. (the list of locations you can go to gets longer as the game goes on) On an unrelated note, you don't buy new, stronger weapons if you want to up your character's stats. Instead, you simply buy upgrades, which you're able to purchase when you kill enough enemies.

So, to sum it all up, you basically hack away at enemies to defeat them, and you go to town to either move to your next destination, to save your game, or to upgrade your weapons. It's pretty simple, but seeing that the game was aimed at a younger audience, it's excusable.

Now, onto the differences between Rue's gameplay and Mint's. Rue has the ability to morph into a monster when he kills it and takes its soul. (this is an ability needed for some of the puzzles) Mint, on the other hand, is able to cast magic and accquires more types of it as the game goes on. The differences are relatively minor, and neither story is really harder than the other.

GRAPHICS

ToF has a very cartoony style of graphics. The game doesn't really have much to boast of, though, as none of the character models or backgrounds are anything amazing. Most spell animations are very simplistic, as are the attacks Rue and Mint make. Nothing really stands out about the graphics, although they're not anything bad or anything you shouldn't be able to stand.

SOUND

The sound, like the graphics, is bearable but still not much above average. There are a few somewhat catchy tunes in the game, and the tracks actually fit fairly well with the background or the event. A tune such as Carona's theme is easy on the ears and fits the mood of the town, but other tunes, such as the boss battle music, can get annoying very quickly are pretty boring after the first or second time.

There are also sound effects in the game, and those, too, are all right, but not much more. The spell animations sound typical, and the same hitting sounds are very plain and can get annoying after hearing them over and over.

Oh yes, and there's absolutely zero voice acting in ToF as well. This may be a bit of a good thing, though, because several characters could very possibly have very annoying voices that would make the experience more annoying if you actually had to listen to them. Besides, most of the characters have pretty imaginable voices, anyway.

LENGTH

All right, if you've read other reviews for ToF, then you know how short of a game this is. Playing either story should take you no more than eight hours, and when taking that into account, you've got an experience that'll last you under 20 hours. While it'll undoubtedly be a very quick game, that could actually be more of a good thing. At times, the game gets very tedious and very annoying. Also, the fact that this game is short is a good indicator that the game doesn't try to drag out its story like other RPGs tend to. (Tales of the Abyss...you know who I'm talking to) So unless you absolutely love the game, you'll probably find it more of a good thing that the game can end a bit on the fast side.

REPLAYABILITY

Whether the game is replayable or not really depends on how much you liked it the first time around. When finishing the game, you're given the option of whether or not you want to start over and have your characters have boosted stats. If you liked the game, you might find this a welcome addition and could potentially have a lot of fun playing it back again (maybe for missed story?) and have increased stats. But if you weren't overwhelmed or thrilled by the game, then you probably won't take advantage of this, which isn't that much of a good thing, considering the game doesn't really give you much more of a reason to play through the game a second time.

PROS

+ Story surpasses original expectations
+ Most characters have their own personality
+ Battles are fast paced and don't take that long
+ Graphics and sound are all right
+ Several funny or humorous moments

CONS

- Game is pretty short
- Battles quickly degrade into button mashing
- Most fights are simple. (bosses usually have very simple and repetitive patterns)
- Doesn't offer a lot of replay value

CLOSING NOTES

ToF is a pretty good game that offers an overall enjoyable experience. It's easy to grow attached to many of the characters the game, whether it's from their sometimes funny conversations or from learning more about their personalities. And even though the story isn't one that'll knock your socks off, it's better than first anticipated, depsite some cliched elements and it being overall pretty simple. The graphics and sound aren't worth noting that much, but the lack of replay and short length are. Those two things put together make a severe weak point, along with some annoying and tedious gameplay at times, make this game only a "pretty good" game rather than a great one. Still, for an RPG fan looking for a light-hearted experience, this game is one that I'd recommend in an instant.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/19/07

Game Release: Threads of Fate (US, 07/14/00)