Game:

Threads of Fate (1999)

Duration: 0:00

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Originally recorded: April 8, 2021
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Well, this session went way better than I had anticipated. I had originally hoped that I'd be able to finish this game in 7 streams, but when finishing up Mint's story took up the entirety of the fourth, I'd abandoned those plans. Turns out, I didn't have to worry in the first place. Apparently, my experience with Mint made making it through Rue's scenario way, WAY quicker. Like, I was expecting to be completely prepared to start the final dungeon next time. Not so much actually completing it and the entire remainder of the game.

Rue's scenario definitely felt way more streamlined compared to Mint's, especially at the end. There wasn't much in the way of jerking me around with fetch quests and dungeon retreads. No, Rue delivered instead in the form of several unique boss battles. Seriously, that fight with Atenacius gave me N.Tropy vibes -- though that's not exactly a complaint. Psycho Master, on the other hand, was a complete and total joke... both times. I fought him BOTH times in this stream. That's just kind of insane to think about, given just how much trouble that guy gave me with Mint. Doll Master, on the other hand, hoo boy, did he redeem himself from the absolutely pathetic showing he had in Mint's story. Special shoutout also goes to Mode Master's unique fight: forcing Rue to fight himself and various transformations (some he hadn't even encountered in-game yet) was an awesome concept. Of course, I'd gotten enough practice fighting the final boss with Mint to make its final form a total cakewalk, so that was a bit of a bummer.

Rue's ending was... satisfying, if not a little cliched. That's really all I can describe it as. I'm just not sure what was canon and what wasn't. And honestly, the special epilogue that you unlock for beating the game with both characters doesn't really answer that question either. Speaking of, total dick-move with that absolutely blatant sequel hook in the true ending, Squaresoft. Being reminded of how Square used to do stuff besides Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts and Eidos games always makes me sad. But honestly, with how janky some of the aspects of Threads of Fate were, a sequel totally would've been appreciated. Oh well, can't change the past and much like Brave Fencer Musashi, I doubt we'll ever see any sort of re-release or remaster on modern platforms. Sigh, what a pity. I wonder if the lead developers on this and Musashi stay at Square or if they left and went on to make obscure successors elsewhere. I guess I should probably look into that.

Either way, the game was a solid 8/10. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for a good PS1 action-RPG (play Brave Fencer Musashi instead!), but the game's charm and interesting mechanics definitely make up for its platforming shortcomings.