Threads of Fate (PS1)

Threads of Fate, also known as Dewprism in Japan, is an action role-playing game with two similar but meaningfully different tales to tell. While the main thread of seeking out a relic from an ancient race of powerful magic beings named Aeons remains intact, the enigmatic Rue and the spunky Mint approach combat quite differently, make different bonds along the way, and even have some unique boss fights and a dungeon each the other won’t see. While the stuff that remains unchanged will make a second playthrough as the other character a little less exciting, the game feels the right size to see through both stories and get the full tale told, even if technically some events should make them mutually exclusive.

 

Depending on whether you pick Rue or Mint, you’ll get a fairly different overall tone for the story. The game is generally a light-hearted adventure either way, but Mint’s tale will focus in more on comedic interactions and sillier motivations for the adventure while Rue’s motivations are more earnest at the cost of a bit of personality. Mint’s quest to find the lost Aeon relic starts off because she’s a spoiled princess who is kicked out by the East Heaven Kingdom for her selfish ways, her desire to get the relic mostly tied to her wanting to not just show them they were wrong for doing so, but to take things even further and use it to take over the world. This sounds like a potentially evil motivation, but the more you hear Mint talk about world domination, the more it is revealed to be childish naivete closer to how a kid might wish they could be president so they could outlaw homework. In a bit of an interesting touch, Mint doesn’t go through a huge amount of growth over the course of the adventure, but certain moments will show that beneath her playful egotism, she can care about others in her own way. She certainly gets her comeuppance at a few points for the things she does need to work on, but she also has some delightful banter with many of the characters she encounters like the normally friendly and innocent Prima who can rile her up like no one else. Mint’s side of the story also feels like it is the better to play first, partly because the East Heaven Kingdom is so heavily tied to the main antagonistic force of the adventure whereas their appearance from Rue’s perspective feels a bit out of the blue until some later details come to light.

While Mint’s adventure has more amusing character interactions and chances to get to know a small but enjoyable cast of characters because they bounce off her personality so well, Rue’s tale could be said to lean more towards the lore and world of Threads of Fate in what it explores. Rue is not an overly emotional character and his reserved approach to conversations means he forms far fewer relationships than Mint, only a minor rivalry with recurring villain Duke and a hint of romance with the kind and ditzy local girl Elena really standing out. Partly this is because his motivation for seeking out the relic is a lot more selfless and noble, a woman named Claire who provided him shelter and care when he was lost and confused killed at the story’s start. With the relic, Rue believes he can revive her, but as he works towards acquiring it, he learns more about who he is, what the Aeons are, and the main antagonist has their own deep tie to him so you can get a bit of sentiment from his foe even if Rue doesn’t ever show himself to have depths beyond being a driven heroic type. Curiously, depending on which story you pick, you will see the other character adventuring alongside you, and Mint handles Rue’s appearances better than the other way around. In Mint’s story, Rue is enigmatic but earnest, a more effective adventurer that can cover for Mint’s flaws but makes you curious what his story must be because he doesn’t put himself forward much. Over in Rue’s version of events though, Mint almost feels like an ineffective villain, shown to be far more selfish there and even attempting to sabotage Rue. Her character exaggeration was likely done to make her presence more comedic, but it makes the joint ending you unlock for doing both stories a bit hard to mesh these portrayals well on top of the fact that there are points where each hero takes the narrative over in mutually exclusive ways.

 

Threads of Fate doesn’t come out and tell you which type of narrative the characters will have, although the select screen at the start does emphasize Mint’s spunkiness and how mysterious Rue is, so it might be a helpful way of cluing in that Mint’s adventure will have the richer character interactions thanks to her overt attitude while Rue’s will focus in more on the nature of the world and the lore behind things like Aeons and relics. However, there’s another major difference between the two heroes, that being how they play. Dungeons in Threads of Fate are often platforming spaces with enemies blocking your way, but a good deal of them can be handled in real time combat with a quick combo or a few jump attacks. Exploration plays a fairly large role, and while the game gets off a somewhat weak foot when its second dungeon, the Underground Ruins, involves repeating tunnels that can be hard to figure out, other dungeons have more interesting gimmicks. Rue’s unique dungeon is a haunted temple where doors open on their own or unleash surprise monster encounters while Mint’s trip through a treetop town involves looking for switches for a little rail cart ride to take you where you want to go. Some areas are complicated by special events like needing to outrun a rolling boulder or, in the case of the very memorable domain of Fancy Mel, playing strange minigames in the sky in a land of dreamy tutti frutti colors.

 

It’s the combat where the design will truly shift in how you tackle the dungeons and locations of Threads of Fate. Mint’s alternate option to smashing people with two large rings is a range of magic spells, Mint needing to learn both elements and spell types along her adventure to mix and match them for new effects. A water spell can spray bubbles in front of you with one form and them drop strong icicles with another, a constant flow of wind might help in one situation but a spread of five wind blades can help against a group of baddies. Figuring out which spells to use for which foes gives Mint’s combat some more variety since some foes will barely take damage from regular attacks unless you hit a weak point, but a burst of flames might be just what’s needed to roast them instantly. Magic power is easily recovered by hitting foes with regular attacks too, and many regular monsters drop healing or magic recovery pick-ups with even boss fights usually having some means to earn both. In fact, Threads of Fate even has a unique revival system where coins you find out in the world can serve as revives. While you can only save back at Carona town’s inn and the very rare mid-dungeon save point, having coins in store will let you revive with full health wherever you died to try that section again. Death isn’t too much of a worry, but some bosses can put up a strong fight before you figure them out and some dungeons gimmicks can wear you down if you fail them repeatedly too, but find enough treasure chests or sparkling coins on the ground, and you won’t worry too much if you do perish.

Rue’s fighting style is a lot more complicated than Mint’s though, for good and for ill. His regular attacks are more consistently reliable, because while Mint gets to keep any magic she learns, Rue’s special abilities are contingent on the monsters you kill. Rue can store up to four monster coins at a time, these dropped by most any regular enemy you defeat along your journey. The newest one you find will replace the oldest and they drop most any time you face a monster you don’t have the coin for, but the purpose of these coins is for Rue to transform into them and use their powers. Rue will outright become the monster for as long as you like, and there’s a wide range of what this can let you play as. The magical Fire Blob, the enormous hammer swinging Bubba, the giant King Ant, a witch who comes with a cannon turret, and many other foes will be yours to use with the exact same limits and benefits they have. A gargoyle can fly to some extent, but you might need to become a little porcupine to slip into a tight space or use a monster’s power to solve a quick puzzle. However, many enemies can be a bit weak in battle or a step down from Rue’s more maneuverable and reliable attacks. Some like Bubba can really shine when you have them, but trying to make some monsters work will probably just lead to you getting killed. There are a few that can still make it worthwhile, but it’s a system that doesn’t feel like it was designed around as much as Mint’s magic, especially since the constant monster coin switching probably meant the game couldn’t make foes resist regular Rue’s attacks too often for fear you’d end up in an obnoxious fight if your coins are wrong.

 

Threads of Fate doesn’t feature a level up system per se and money is earned in an interesting way. Most of your cash will be earned by selling treasures to shops in Carona or what might be called monster bounties. Every foe you defeat, be it regular enemy or a boss, will earn you some cash from the local seller, and he in turn will sell you boosts that stay with your character rather than the player needing to fuss with equipment. However, to get health increases or magic capacity increases, you instead earn them directly in battle. Taking damage will gradually increase your health meter, and using spells or monster attacks will increase your magic. Mixing things up to strengthen your magic capacity is a nice little incentive and knowing any injury you take does help you in the long run is a nice touch, and Threads of Fate does have a few extras to find to help you along the way if you’re thorough. Carona is a small town but a nice hub that lets you easily travel to any dungeon you have unlocked which helps if you do want to earn more money hunting monsters or go back for the occasional side quest, Threads of Fate generally trying to have little friction for normal tasks perhaps to help it appeal to younger players. That doesn’t make it easy, Fancy Mel’s minigames can require some surprising platforming dexterity and certain boss fights can really pack a punch, but Threads of Fate isn’t really aiming to be a difficult or complicated game so much as a creative and enjoyable adventure you can justify two runs through.

THE VERDICT: Threads of Fate’s two stories may not be equal in substance, Mint getting the better character writing for her and the extended cast and her magic outclasses Rue, but both tales pair well together to flesh out a lovely fantasy world with fun characters and a good mix of dungeons. Figuring out unique exploration obstacles and how to utilize new powers makes the gameplay engaging despite it not being all that challenging, but the cutscenes can be truly funny and provide some nice moments with a small cast you come to love to make this an endearing if not overly complex action RPG.

 

And so, I give Threads of Fate for PlayStation…

A GOOD rating. I wasn’t too surprised to learn that originally, Threads of Fate was just Mint’s story with Rue as a side-character, and Mint’s immature dreams of world domination were also added to provide a more eye-catching motivation than merely trying to find a powerful ancient relic. Mint really steals the show with her bold personality and she lets characters like her sister Maya, the local rogue Rod, and the plot important Prima show off more of who they are beyond their roles in the plot. Rue’s story doesn’t feel lacking save in comparison to Mint, his monster transformations a fun system to toy with if often more out of curiosity than effectiveness and having some more concrete details on elements about the Aeons and relics makes this small fantasy world feel more robust. Mint’s personality might rub certain players the wrong way but hers is ultimately the story perhaps best experienced if you only do one, especially since her magic is better worked into combat as well. Rue’s transformations being accurate to the monsters you encounter might be what held them back from truly being flexible combat tools, and perhaps it might have been better to flesh out a few rather than work to include every common foe no matter how useless they might be. Whatever path you take through Threads of Fate though, you’ll still get delightful surprises like Fancy Mel’s strange atelier, a fun cast that make enough appearances to help you grow familiar with them, and a world that is friendly to exploration but still puts in little challenges to make the task engaging as well. The coins make up for the stricter saving limits, common healing drops can provide cushions for more dangerous moments, and Carona is a nice condensed hub for your adventuring needs, so while it won’t have the kind of captivating world or involved systems that make other RPGs fascinating, it’s a nice fantasy romp with some unique touches to make it worth a look.

 

Threads of Fate could have probably worked with its original ideas of it just being Mint’s treasure hunting journey, although apparently Maya was also a later addition despite feeling so crucial to Mint’s hang-ups about losing her title as princess. It’s perhaps best not to think too much of what the game was before it was retooled, but it speaks for the strengths of Mint’s story alone that Threads of Fate could have still been a lovely adventure with some interesting mechanics before you add in an entire extra playable character and his own unique tricks. Doing so many things to make the dual stories work did perhaps keep it from reaching for the stars, but even if you only pursue one thread of the story, you’ll still be in for a nice action RPG that manages its scope well and provides some pleasant and amusing moments for an overall light-hearted tale.