Threads of Fate was a game I picked up at a local resale shop, mostly on a whim. I’m pretty sure I was looking for FF Anthology, but this place didn’t have FFA in stock. Rather than leave empty handed, I, being the fanboy, picked up a Squaresoft game I didn’t own and took it home. This was about twenty years ago, and I don’t remember much about it. I know I liked it and thought it was criminally underrated and unknown, but was I correct? How was the story and music? Is it another Vagrant Story, or a Final Fantasy XII? I’ll be playing both stories, but, because I might be a chauvinist, will be starting with Rue.
The scene opens up on a snowy forest, and a family of floating tadpoles come together in pantomime cuteness. This is interrupted when a black shadow crosses the sky. and they scatter. We then go to a house filled with two people, Clare and Rue. They discuss how the skies are clear after a three day snowstorm and discuss what they’ll do tomorrow. It involves hunting deer and a great feast. To prep for that, they begin to cook a large dinner tonight. Clare goes to cook while Rue looks at his axe, Arc Edge.
When dinner is prepared, the two sit down and eat their food without utensils. Clare mentions that it’s been almost two years since Rue showed up. There’s no mention of what took place before those two hears as suddenly, cries from the barn are heard. Rue goes out, assuming it’s a wolf, only to find no trace of an animal. Then, the black shadow from the floating tadpoles shows up with his comically oversized right hand. Like, seriously, his hand is the size of his body, and I can’t take him seriously. I don’t know who designed this guy, but it’s not good.
My sensibilities aside, Rue and Giant Hand Man fight for a bit before Clare walks out of the house. Rue is hit so hard that he's propelled to the side, and, just before he’s killed, Hand Man is hit by a scythe from Clare. It does nothing, and Rue is picked up, in the giant hand, and thrown away. He can now only watch in horror as his friend is killed before his eyes.
“And so, my journey began... I’ll find the powerful [relic] and save Clare, no matter what...”
We then skip three years, and Rue is on a boat. We can see the female character, Mint, in the background, and we’re also introduced to what appears to be the mid-bosses, Blood and Smokey. Suddenly, the ship nearly capsizes as a red...thing churns up the water around them. Everyone is fine and peacefully reach the town of...
...Carona.
Man, what a time to play this, eh. Must be a thread of fate. *insert disappointed ba dum tis*
Rue feels as though this is a familiar place, and, before carrying on, I walk around town. All the shops are closed, and the tavern master won’t talk to us. There is a picture of Kid from Chrono Cross just outside the door, so there’s another ...thread of fate. Yes, I’m gonna go this every opportunity I get, even though I think we’re already out of opportunities. Anyway, there is a church which asks for donations and a small campsite nearby, but there’s nothing for us here. Word around town is, one of the residents, Elena, has gone missing chasing after her scholastic parents. With nowhere else to go, Rue enters the forest to find them.
Carona Forest is a side scroller tutorial dungeon that teaches us the basics of combat. For Rue, press X to do a normal attack or Triangle for a strong spin attack. As we defeat enemies, Rue can shapeshift into them. This allows for alternative movement across water and, when we find the missing girl beset by thugs, sneak attacks. We come to a clearing, and a girl with purple hair is being mugged by those prospective mid-bosses. Using the lowly form of a tadpole, Rue sneaks up to them and begins combat. They’re not too hard and flee when one of them is beaten enough. We then talk to Elena, who’s kinda dumb. She believes us to a tadpole that can shift into a human and not the other way around. She also insists on calling us Polly. We then follow her to meet her parents.
There are a few more mob fights before we reach a hilltop. At the top, is Elena’s parents. Her father, Klaus, has a sprained ankle but is, otherwise, unharmed. Mira is just fine. They introduce themselves and talk about how they, too, are looking for the [relic]. Everyone groups up when the couple suggests there might be a clue down this sheer cliffside. Rue valiantly jumps down. There’s a secret here that I’ll need to come back to, so I'm excited. At the bottom, we reach another forest and a simple puzzle about facing the gargoyle, which, when cleared, reveals a rainbow stairway upward. We climb it and come to an abandoned house. But first, we fight its guardian. The first real boss of the game is a large dog shaped thing that is an easy kill. It only hit me because I got cocky and wanted to try something different. Upon its death, Klaus, Mira, and Elena (who I will henceforth call the KME Family) show up. Sprained ankle be damned! The two men enter the building, because no girls allowed, and look through the place. They find an old book that Klaus can decipher, which tells of a mage 500 years ago who found a clue to the [relic]. It goes on to mention Aeons, godlike creatures with limited lifespans who put a barrier on the [relic] to prevent anyone from using it. Then Mint shows up, bumps her head on the ceiling, and dejectedly leaves them alone.
They return to Carona where the KME family set Rue up with a place to stay and prepare their next move. The book also contained a key to an underground ruin that Klaus plans to head to in the morning. Sadly, his ankle is still sprained, so Rue will go alone.
Tomorrow...
I did do a bit of grinding on tadpoles for upgrades, so I’m ready to make short work of this dungeon. I haven’t played ToF since I bought it twenty years ago, and I'm excited to replay it now. I need to know if kid me wasted $20 or if I need to start a petition for a remake/sequel. Square made a lot of random games like this once upon a time, and I’m committed to playing all of them. I know the game has a diehard fanbase, even know, and I want to rekindle the flame I once had. Let my nerd grow!!!
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