Threads of Fate

Well, I just finished Threads of Fate, and the main thing I can say about it is that it's better than Okami.

No, I'm kidding. But also I'm not kidding. Threads of Fate might not be more clever, but it is definitely a better video game than Okami.

You know how in some games you can speed up the appearance of text in dialog boxes by pressing or holding down a button, and how sometimes speeding up the text and progressing to the next line of dialog are two different buttons? Well, in Threads of Fate, it's one button. If you double tap it, all of the text appears at once, and another tap progress immediately to the next line of dialog. If you hold it down, the dialog continues to progress until you release it.

Threads of Fate is stupendously playable is what I'm saying; so playable that you even feel like you're in control of the story scenes with each button press. The controls are tighter than Square's previous action-RPG, Brave Fencer Musashi, or even more so than ANY Square game since, I dunno, Secret of Mana. Running and jumping around is a Mario-esque joy, and every attack is answered by an enemy's collapse and a satisfying WHACK. Special attacks consume MP, and MP can be gained by landing normal attacks. Healing is done at the inn or via Zelda-esque enemy drops, and upgrades are handled at the tool shop for a nominal fee. Menu navigation and inventory management is minimal or negligible. The town of Carona serves as a hub from which you visit and revisit the various levels of the game - and is, brilliantly, shaped like a wheel, with the camera following you from a fixed place atop the fountain in the middle of town. It is the most easily digestible action-RPG I can think of right now.

This breezy gameplay is accompanied by a straightforward story. There's a legendary relic of unimaginable power lurking just beyond the boundaries of a sleepy port town, and several parties are in a Mad Mad Mad Mad World dash to get it, including the two playable characters. This simple frame allows for a steady pace and a steady escalation of mounting conflicts as the climax grows closer and closer.

It also has a really modest visual style with bright colors and simple textures. It's very plain, but used with great panache. All of the characters have big eyes and a small array of very expressive animations. And even though they aren't the deepest characters, they become more and more likable over the course of the game. They work incredibly well as an ensemble, and form one of the most cohesive and admirable casts in a Japanese video game behind maybe Phoenix Wright. At least for me.

It's not a COMPLETELY euphoric experience, though. It's been said that between the two playable characters Rue has the better gameplay and Mint has the better story. Rue is a shape-shifting amnesiac who wants to use the relic to resurrect his foster sister/savior/lover, and Mint is a magic-using ex-princess who wants to use the relic to rule the world.

Rue's scenario is rife with melodrama and "angst" - or what passed for angst in 2000. Man, if reviewers knew the kind of angst Japanese RPGs were manufacturing just four years later, they'd be BEGGING for Rue's story. Honestly, I remember Rue's plight being pretty affecting because it was so subdued, even if it was familiar territory.

Though, it's true, you can't deny the appeal of Mint's story. If Rue's scenario is Threads of Fate's "real story" then Mint's is more like a parody of that story. And, honestly, it's the one I remember most, and her crazy antics are much more in keeping with the tone of the game, and her interactions with all of the NPCs bring out the best in their characters, I think.

The main deviation between the characters in terms of gameplay is their differing SPECIAL TALENTS. Rue can transform into any of up to 5 enemies he has defeated, altering his moveset. Though really interesting, I honestly always had less fun playing as Rue in any form other than his own - because he already moved so briskly and controlled so well, few others could compare. The main advantage in transforming is accessing elemental moves specific to certain bad guys.

Mint's magic is cast by combining an ELEMENT with an EFFECT. For example, Fire and Normal creates and simple fireball, while Fire and Super create a devastating flame thrower. It's a breeze to use and switch between the various magics, though by halfway through the game you realize there isn't nearly as much variety in strategy compared to Rue's abilities. Sure, enemies might have different elemental weaknesses, but every magic spell is just... a different kind of projectile. Any given Mega Man has a wider arsenal of more fun weaponry to choose from.

Also, you return several times to the very first forest stage of the game for various reasons, which doesn't bug me as much as you're forced to return to the second, more maze-like underground ruins. It's not as much a sin like the backtracking in Musashi or something else, but I feel it could have been so easily avoided.

But, really, that's it. It's great. Unlike Musashi, I would happily suggest it to anyone. Would I suggest that you play it twice, one with each character? If it's your first time, yes. MOST of the game is exactly the same, but it's so interesting to see how NPCs react differently, and to see what the other guy was doing while you were doing something else. But this past time? I just played as Mint. I actually had to stop myself from playing as Rue. I like this game, but I have other stuff to do.

One last thing. I really like the soundtrack. It's very different from Musashi's bombastic music - it's super mellow, almost new agey, and very video gamey. This track has 1158 plays on my iTunes, mostly because it's on my sleep aid playlist. The composer Junya Nakano would be chosen by Nobuo Uematsu, along with Masashi Hamauzu, to help with Final Fantasy X's soundtrack.



Also, at the risk of sounding like a weeaboo, I'd like to say that the Japanese title "Dewprism" is a much more fitting one than "Threads of Fate" because it has less syllables and actually has anything to do with the game.