Threads of Fate - Review

Threads of Fate is a great game to rent

By: Daniel Kaplan

Review Breakdown
Battle System	8
Interface	6
Music/Sound	5
Originality	5
Plot	7
Localization	9
Replay Value	8
Visuals	8
Difficulty	Very Easy
Time to Complete	8-15 hours per character
Overall
Criteria

   Threads of Fate was released in Japan with the title, Dewprism. The game is about two characters, Rue and Mint, both searching for a relic for different reasons. Rue is trying to resurrect this woman, Claire, that was "like a sister" to him and Mint is trying to conquer the world. With the power of the relic, both of these goals are possible. You play each character's story separately and the plots "intertwine" together.

   The battle system reminds me of Secret of Mana (maybe it's also because Mint looks so much like a sprite). The battle system is different depending on which character you are playing as. If you fight with Rue, you have two buttons for attacking and once you kill an enemy you can transform in to it and use it's attack (very cool). IF you are Mint, you have one button for attacking and the other button for casting spells. The speed of the battles are fine but they are just too easy. The only challenge in the battle system is when you must jump over a pit and attack at the same time: There is very little challenge to the enemies. If you died fighting a boss, you can use a coin to resurrect yourself before the battle. I only had to use about 5 coins for each character but they come with 10 and it's easy to get much more. My favorite part about the battle system (and I don't think this would be good in most games) is that there are no levels. You get more HP and MP by using it. The more you get hit, the more HP you get.

   The interface of Threads of Fate is alright in most areas. The gameplay is at a very good speed. One annoying part of the game is that you can't see what enemies you can transform into or what spells you have unless you are fighting. It would have been nice to be able to check that stuff while I was walking around the town. The worst part about the interface is that it all takes place in a single town. That really disappointed me and it makes the game a little more boring because there seems to be nothing to do there.

Rue

   The music of Threads of Fate is not that memorable but it is not that bad either. It is really annoying at one place called Fancy Mel's. It is like a theme park and the music just keeps on going over and over again. The sound effects are fine except the one where Mint stamps her feet is annoying. Other than that, there is nothing to complain about.

   This game is not that original. In fact, the only part about it that is original is Rue's battle system and the coin system that lets you restart when you die. Almost everything else can be seen in other games. One good thing is that Rue has this dramatic story and Mint has this comedic story (and it is actually funny. I've never giggled while playing an rpg before).

   I would suggest playing Rue's quest if you are going to only play one. His is much more interesting and his battle system is more fun. What really annoys me about Mint is her plot. She's just a spoiled princess that wants to rule the world. That is what it is from the beginning and that is what it is at the end. And what's worse; she really isn't a like-able character. She's got a personality that I really found it hard to relate with.

Mint

   This game has a lot of replay value because of the very interactive battle system and because of the short time it takes to beat it. You can also go back to any place you have been to at any time.

   The game looks fine. I saw reviews of the game in magazines and it seemed to look much worse in the magazines than the actual game did. The game has no FMV but that might actually be a plus because it probably would look really out of place.

The only thing worse than playing in one town the whole time was the difficulty. I won't say it was childs play, but the game was just to easy. There was no point where I was stuck. I never even had to pause to think about what I should do next. It was always obvious where to go next in the storyline and when fighting. Once you figure out the battle system it is too easy also.

Others

For me the time to complete each story was only 10 hours. I thought I was getting worse at rpg's because all the new ones were taking me 50+ hours to beat. I guess the games were just getting longer.

To sum it up, Threads of Fate is not a bad game, but I would not suggest buying it. The short amount of time it takes to beat it makes it not worth the money. I can not deny that it is a fun game so I would suggest you rent it if you are going to play it. It's a game I will probably play again to kill some time: It would probably be like playing it for the first time since it is not a memoriable game.