An Underappreciated Game
Threads of Fate may not be a well known game, but everyone should play this game once in their lifetime. This game is an amazing experience with its unique gameplay, amazing story and varying cast of characters.
What is unique about this game is the story. You can play as 2 characters: Rue and Mint. Both of them want the same thing, which is called Valen’s Relic, but they have different reasons for wanting so. Rue wants it to bring back his friend, Claire, from the dead. She died at the hands of a mysterious person, whose name is only the “Arm of Death.” Mint, on the other hand, wants the relic to get revenge on her sister, Maya. Maya kicked her out of East Heaven Kingdom, the place Mint was supposed to get the throne, because for her selfish and irresponsible ways. No matter what story you choose, you team up with the other person to aid in the quest for the relic. You both begin your journey in the City of Carona. From there, you go to the same places as each other, except for one part, but you do different things. I’ll stop there with the story, so you all can play it to find out for yourself.
The gameplay is one of the best parts to Threads of Fate. As I said in my previous paragraph, you play as two different characters. And different they are. But let’s start with the similarities. Both Rue and Mint have HP (Hit Points) and MP (Magic Points). Since Rue is more of a fighter, he has more HP than Mint. However, it’s the opposite for Mint. Mint is a Magic user, and therefore has more MP than Rue does. To level up your HP and MP levels, you must use them. You have to take damage for your max HP to go up, and you have to use abilities that cost MP to raise your max MP. Of course, you can always go to a shop in Carona and buy upgrades, but that’s far too expensive. There’s also Strength and Defense. You can upgrade these by going to Tonio’s Shop and buying the upgrades like armor and things. Another thing is that when you defeat an enemy, you can then go to Tonio’s Shop and sell it for money.
Now let’s talk about the differences. Let’s start off with Rue. Rue uses a sword for his main physical attacks. However, when he defeats a certain enemy, he can pick up a coin that was dropped and he is then able to turn into that enemy. For example, when he defeats a gargoyle, he can turn into one. All of the enemies that he can turn into have special abilities. Let’s go back to the gargoyle example: when Rue is a gargoyle, he can attack with sonic waves. He can also jump twice as high when you push the jump button twice. Then there’s Mint. She is the game’s version of a heavy magic user. She can attack with her dual rings, but she is stronger magically. There are 7 types of magic: Blue, White, Red, Green, Yellow, Black and Gold. Also, there are 7 effects: Wide, Normal, Super, Power, Circle, and Cosmos. Some can’t be used with certain types of magic. So, because of what I just said, there are 34 different spells you can use in Threads of Fate. That’s still a good number of spells!
Next on the list is Graphics. For it’s time, which was 1999, Threads of Fate had very good graphics. They are some of the best graphics on the PlayStation, in my opinion. There is one drawback, however. Since this is a Squaresoft game, you’d expect some amazing cutscenes, right? Well, don’t look here for it: there are no CG cutscenes in Threads of Fate. However, I think the graphics are amazing without the CG cutscenes.
The sound is very good as well. There are some amazing tracks in this game. “Well, it is a Squaresoft game. So it has to have good music!” That’s not always the case. But for Threads of Fate, it is. The tracks get you into the game. They set the emotion of certain scenes in a way you would not believe.
So, in conclusion, Threads of Fate is one RPG that you should look for, because it would be a shame if you missed it. There are a select few at the top of Playstation RPGs, and Threads of Fate is one of them.
