Threads of Fate Review - GET THAT RELIC

Was Threads of Fate a classic RPG on the PlayStation? Do you have what it takes to find the Relic? Let's see if everyone was right about this PlayStation 1 RPG from Square Enix in my review of Threads of Fate!
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Intro - 00:39
Gameplay - 04:19
Intertwined Stories - 11:04
Conclusion - 13:22
#SquareEnix #PlayStation #JJReviews

[@jakejameslugo]

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[@Numocron]

Wow Jakejames Lugo this is another awesome review I love it. :)

[@jakejameslugo]

Thanks!

[@Numocron]

@@jakejameslugo You're very welcome. :)

[@poyopotpie]

Looking at your footage, the reason running up the staircase with Mint was “easier” is because you did what you should have done with Rue. You were running one the “inner” side of the stairs versus with Rue you kept moving between the edges for some reason. Regarding the combat as you can notice, you are dedicated to certain animations depending on how many times you press the attack button. This isn’t an uncommon thing. For me the only frustrating part of this game is the Platforming. For some reason Square had an obsession with incorporating Platforming randomly in some of their RPGs. But it’s not nearly as frustrating as Xenogears’ Platforming I feel (except for the Mel stuff; then it is on par).

[@jakejameslugo]

When I was playing the staircase section with Rue, I did what you're supposed to do in order to get up fast, but the multiple times that I played that section the speed of the skeleton was inconsistent and definitely was not the same as with Mint's story. Both on camera and off camera I went through it and found the same result. And just because the animations dedicated to attacks are similar to other games, doesn't make it any less annoying to deal with when fighting. The entire mini-game section of this game just was very annoying to deal with as well, was not that fun.

[@doubtingtom92]

An iconic thing about this game is the use of the word "expletive". My family to this day still uses that word in reference to that dialogue choice lol

[@jakejameslugo]

LoL, gotta start talking like that whenever I'm at an event. See if anyone gets the reference.

[@asuma1fan]

Threads of Fate still one my top favorite PSX games. I do agree with the Fancy Mel games being a pain to get through.

[@jakejameslugo]

It really was! Super annoying for both characters... Really didn't like it.

[@YukitoOnline]

Ah~ Childhood~ Other than Megaman Legends & Legend of Mana. Thread of Fate is one of my fav games. Really love Rue's transformation.

[@jakejameslugo]

The game definitely has some good moments, even though I wasn't too keen on a lot of other things.

[@YukitoOnline]

@@jakejameslugo Game quality wasn't in my mind when I played it back then. We were all kids back in the PS1 era lol

[@jakejameslugo]

This is true... but for me back then I never got to play this. Was playing a lot of other games at the time, mostly on PS2/N64.

[@XenoAlex2222]

I loved this game for the unique monster changes, music and emotional story, it was great in the year 2000 being a teenager. You're judging it by today's standards of gaming and being older, everything is more fun when you're a kid :)

[@jakejameslugo]

That goes for a lot of things we enjoyed as kids. However, media of all forms can age gracefully and still be very fun even by today's standards. Not all games hold up as well, much like this one doesn't. Gotta comes to terms with that, even for games we enjoyed playing when we were young.

[@anthonyharris94]

I remember playing the demo version of this game brings back memories!

[@jakejameslugo]

A lot of people have told me they played the demo of this back in the day. It's cool hearing that because we all played a variety of demos from different sources, like PSM and demo discs with other games!

[@MaddieDeux]

I finished the game many times as a child. Recently decided to revisit it, and the saved new game + on the memory card was Mint in Fancy Mel's atelier in the middle of those mini games hahaha huhuhu

[@jakejameslugo]

That must’ve been pretty jarring to go back to those mini games, lol

[@MaddieDeux]

@@jakejameslugo Feels like child me also gave up by that point

[@jakejameslugo]

Definitely don’t blame you. That whole section was ANNOYING AS HECK!

[@colosine]

Square enix wasn't known as square soft, square soft and enix were seperate companies until 03 when they merged

[@Dodsodalo]

Still my favorite game of all time.

[@jakejameslugo]

That's totally fine. If you enjoy it, then keep enjoying it a ton. It didn't click with me too much personally.

[@3rdayesmokin657]

The cliffhanger in the story sticks with me.

[@ARocketsPocket]

I’ve never heard of this game which confuses me because I love the old Square Soft games. Really like the art style. Nice review by the way. Really informative. ✌️

[@jakejameslugo]

Thank you tons! Yeah I didn’t know about it until someone recommended I play it. Though I didn’t enjoy overall, I’m glad I got to play it.

[@poyopotpie]

When this game came out, was a real treat since Action RPGs on the PS1 were not all very fun or felt stiff. It's only huge downsides are majority of the platform sections but it doesn't stop you from still having a quick playthrough with each character. For me though the biggest reason why I love this game and have replayed it so much is the charm and humor. The world they created is also really cool. Also if you compare the official art with the 3D models they executed the art style perfectly for the PS1 era tech. Lastly of course was playing the 2 different characters and fighting other bosses and some other different scenes that was just cool for that time. I believe there was a mobile only sequel/spin off for Mint and her sister Maya in Japan. I've always wanted a sequel; especially with the secret ending you can get that reveals a certain character.

[@jakejameslugo]

@@poyopotpie There are some interesting aspects to the game, but everything didn't come together as much as I hoped it would for me.

[@Alouette_EXE]

10:14 it has nothing to do with the characters. You just have to go to the left/inner part of the spiral of the stairs to move faster which is what you did with Mint. Really the bosses are a hard but it gets easy if you know what to do which is the balance of it and i finished the game, both characters in less than a week without any experience

[@jakejameslugo]

I did go towards the inner part of the circle in both cases, was following a guide that told me to do so, and I still had issues pop up like that. It just got very frustrating.

[@Alouette_EXE]

@@jakejameslugo i was just playing this game and i did finish it just a while ago. But if it work for you then now you know. It's not that hard to follow the guides

[@jakejameslugo]

It wasnt an issue following the guide when I was playing, its just the way thing felt to play at the time. Either way, I wanted to like this game more than I did... Just didn't click with me as much as I wish it did.

[@TopRamen]

Tears in my eyes.

[@jakejameslugo]

"Search your feelings... You know it to be true..."

[@TopRamen]

@@jakejameslugo if only FF never happened. This would have had a sequel. I signed at online petition years ago man.

[@jakejameslugo]

A lot of the FF games were super popular and people liked them, so it only makes sense for a company to pursue that and focus efforts on those over games that don't resonate with the masses. Those online petitions really don't do anything TBH... We could've seen more of those like any other Squaresoft game/series, but after playing this for review, I'm totally fine if we get something else instead.

[@TopRamen]

@@jakejameslugo I mean if you're looking for better turn based fighting I guess. But this was ahead of its time for me. And the story and the characters and the raw emotion behind it just moved me differently. Played it at 10 years old and beat it again at 20 something and man I tell you. It hits home everytime. What I have for tbis game is more then love its a loyalty. FF died off to me it became mainstream and just bland. Then came the Disney world game thing can't rememebr the name lol. None of them hit home like this one. It's magical in a way FF can't touch

[@TopRamen]

@@jakejameslugo bro do an onimusha walk through! That would be sick! Or a ps1 resident evil 3 even. I got some good ideas for walkthroughs people would like to see

[@martinenriquezruelas8698]

Loved your review, I recently find this game and thought was too frustrating that I I thought Im old I cant handle but I saw your review and everything was clear to me, the game have too many errors, more retro reviews please

[@jakejameslugo]

Glad you enjoyed! Make sure you subscribe because you'll see more videos on retro games as they go out!

[@MrSamPhoenix]

Great review! & I’m truly impressed by the graphics of this PS1 game.

[@jakejameslugo]

Thank you!

[@beverchakus4441]

Love this game!!! Just finished mint's story a few minutes ago. So good!

[@jakejameslugo]

I wish I could've liked it more, but I didn't feel it was a good experience for me.

[@ToHoldNothing]

I echo the sentiment about Brave Fencer Musashi, likely not the best game in terms of aspects like with Threads of Fate, though you're only focusing on one character and there are similarities like gaining monster abilities and fighting with a sword. My breaking point was the steam factory challenge, you're balancing out gauges and I just didn't get it, unlike just figuring out the platforming in ToF, which yeah, really should've been made optional or improved in some way with the jumping on a 2d axis like that

[@jakejameslugo]

I’m definitely going to have to play BF Musashi at some point eventually…

[@ToHoldNothing]

@@jakejameslugo At least ToF is on the PS Store still atm, added there in 2011, BFM...would have to involve getting the original game until it somehow gets included in the future (rights issues?)

[@jakejameslugo]

Wasn't it included on the PS Classic tho?

[@ToHoldNothing]

@@jakejameslugo Oh, it definitely was released on that console, but it's not available digitally like Threads of Fate, was my thought, since that tends to be an issue with select Playstation games, though I think most of the library is available, ideally.

[@Kilwede1]

I still remember playing this on a demo disc way back when, this and chocobo racing dictated the kind of games I'd end up playing on ps1 tho I gotta say, thread's of fates story leaves a lot of room for worldbuilding in a good way. I ended up playing this game like 15 times lol

[@jakejameslugo]

Hope you enjoyed it all those times you played!

[@Kilwede1]

@@jakejameslugo I did thank you! My twin sis and I played it a lot back then, being munchkins getting drawn into the games world. She liked Rue's campaign more and I liked mints cause I enjoyed watching her stomp her feet and jump kick people in the head lol

[@jakejameslugo]

Sounds good!

[@Kilwede1]

@@jakejameslugo I hope you try out more games, and I also hope you remember, this wasn't a "this company came out with this so this should be this good" time period. We'd never seen ANYTHING like the ps1 and threads of fate before. I understand your feelings on it. But you're talking from a perspective that just didn't exist back then. We'd only just gotten Spyro a year prior (I think?) And I didn't know anyone who had beaten croc which came with alot of playstations. That demo disc had like 10 or more games on it. It was a real throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks time period. Anyway regardless, keep on keeping on bro, lookin forward to seeing all your other content and whatever comes next 😁

[@BeneaththeMask69]

Really wish they would bring all these hidden gems to the PlayStation store. My simp a$$ bought a physical for $80, and I’m playing it on my steam deck lol sucks when parents don’t care about their kids stuff.

[@jakejameslugo]

The game is on the PSN. I played it after getting it on PSN through my PlayStation 3.

[@BeneaththeMask69]

Aw I missed out. Are you able to still play it on a ps4 or ps5?

[@jakejameslugo]

I'm not entirely sure, I think you can. Or you can see if it's on PS Plus Premium to download and play as well.

[@Random_vene]

This is the best in depth review of this game on youtube. Your points really came through informed as a veteran and true fan of rpg games. I remember renting this one weekend back in 2000 when it released and loved what I briefly played through. I'm not big on turn based rpgs so the real time combat was really appealing to me. I plan on adding this to my ps1 collection soon and hope it doesn't disappoint too much! Really appreciate the heads up with your review!

[@jakejameslugo]

Thanks a ton. Glad that you really enjoyed. Yeah I wanted to like this game more than I ended up when I finally made the review. Just didn't end up as good as I hoped. Hope you can Subscribe to the channel!

[@s-wo8781]

I'm so mad they never made a sequel and I doubt there will ever be one. That ending teased a sequel.

[@jakejameslugo]

Honestly, I would've been cool seeing that done if I liked the game more.

[@FukuritaMariko]

I found this game on accident when trying to games based on the "Fate series" and this pop up in it's list in an auction I'm aware this isn't even part of the fate series but I decided to bid at a not high amount and won...and then I wonder if this game is even good well I'm at least glad this game I got isn't trash and that it's at least a decent game to try.

[@jakejameslugo]

I just didn't like it when playing for the review. A lot of the things I mentioned brought down the whole experience.

[@s-wo8781]

Actually defeating enemies repeatedly increases your MP and HP. Physical hits increase your HP and using magic attacks more increases your MP. Kind of like FFII's system.

[@jakejameslugo]

Never saw that when playing the game, mostly gear changed up stats.

[@KAGEMORIEru]

I remember intentionally letting Rue get hit by enemies to increase hp haha

[@Ichthyodactyl]

Look how they massacred my boy. Seriously though, I can understand the frustration with that game sometimes, but I think it was mostly on par with other games of that era, the issues those other games didn't have were offset by a lot of other problems. It was a pretty unique game and I think that uniqueness holds true even to this day. I would love for it to get a remake and fix a lot of the camera/combat issues, maybe with some extended content.

[@jakejameslugo]

I'd honestly be cool seeing a remake of this. Especially if the combat was a little bit modernized and addressed some of the other problems I brought up. I'd be down for another go if that happened.

[@theartisticvampire2598]

I would love a remake sure but with how many mysteries and untold lore is in threads of fate (living dolls wizards history the relics themselves royal family lore duke and belles backstory) I would rather a full reboot with more puzzles transformations and magic

[@drizzypuffs523]

I agree with all your statements but I still loved this game.

[@jakejameslugo]

Nothing wrong with that. Enjoy playing the games you love regardless of what anyone says.

[@The6thMessenger]

Dude, I finished it with Mint.

[@jakejameslugo]

Well, that's good for you... But the game is still MEH. LoL

[@Artofficial1986]

I love this game for its simplicity. I mostly enjoy playing with Mint and mixing her magic powers with the effects and grinding and leveling up.

[@jakejameslugo]

I wish I could like it more than I did. It seemed interesting to me at first.

[@3rdayesmokin657]

This game scarred me like an 80s Anime...

[@jakejameslugo]

If only the game was better, lol.

[@chesspunk489]

It's sad how nobody here has mentioned Brave Fencer Musashi. It is the best hidden gem on the ps 1. BFM was the game that Threads of Fate wanted to be.

[@jakejameslugo]

I honestly have never fully played BFM. One day I'll need to get to it.

[@chesspunk489]

@@jakejameslugo Look up any review for BFM and it's always positive. It's a great squaresoft game that for some reason was just never popular.

[@jakejameslugo]

Eventually I’ll see how good it is when I play it. I’ll probably make a video review about it too.

[@ToHoldNothing]

Never finished BFM, but I definitely enjoyed the concept, sort of isekai before I'd even heard of that subgenre, but in reverse: a samurai summoned to a more modern world (sort of). And that sequel...maybe I'm crazy, but Samurai Legend Musashi was addictive to me in how it made you interested in the characters, plus the battle system was fun (even if in hindsight, it feels so bad to beat the crap out of enemies with the girls you rescue as you princess carry them out of the dungeon)

[@dextersbeard3472]

Its a great game, im not sure its the best Hidden gem though. Im not sure its one of the best lesser know JRPG's on the console either.

[@WifeCity]

I just replayed this game and this all checks out. I started with Mint and those MINI GAMES! Unskippable, unEXITable, broken MINI GAMES! I just can't bring myself to keep playing it, that was my breaking point. The other huge issue was when I realized there were things I needed in town, I would often be met with long winded plot and text boxes I ALREADY WENT THROUGH!! This game is at best a fascinating demo for a game. I was very unimpressed with it and my nostalgia lied to me XD.

[@jakejameslugo]

LoL, at least you played it and saw for yourself. The mini games were SO ANNOYING to me... I really had to power through them.

[@baconatorrodriguez4651]

That was the Summer of Square, if I reemember, when this came out. Was gonna get this as a PS3/PS1 Classic download before they shut down, but thanks to your useful review, I'll pass.

[@jakejameslugo]

Glad to have helped out! If you still wanna get it tho, by all means pick it up. Especially if it’s on a great sale

[@edawg0]

yeah i played this game on demo disc in a psn magazine, i bought it years later and rage quit at the fancy mel nini games, I've still never beaten it to this day lol

[@jakejameslugo]

It might still be worth going back to finish, but I didn't feel it was all that great TBH.

[@rmjrmj4]

OK, I'm not trying to be rude or anything but you got a few things wrong about this game. 1) Stories: Rue has a more serious and heart pulling story, when the simple days goes away and all he wants is for them to return to normal. Mint has a childish dream for she has been spoiled her whole life, now that she's been punished all she wants is patty revenge. 2) Battles: In most cases you can blame the hardware but it's also heavily relies on the player to understand the spacing and attack patterns, from what I've seen all you do is go forwards and attack when you're close enough. However just like any game there are moments when you need to flee and wait for an opening, if you get that right you would enjoy the game and not have a barbarian approach to combat. [Remember this is still in the aura of turn based games, you have to be strategic about it.] 3) Leveling system: Alright, you may have little to no experience to grinding enemies but for every enemy you slay you get a small boost, for every HP health drop will increase your max health when picked up, same with MP stamina drops that increase by 1 periodically per pickup. The items you buy at the shop is like armor and a blade sharpener, they increase your attack and defense Bonus [if you took the time to read what's on the screen you'd know] and it's displayed in color next to your name/character ID, it's also there to make sure you level up like your suppose to when adventuring out into higher leveled areas. [I could also say it's a hub area where you... you know, prepare for the next adventure {Like in Monster Hunter}. Future games went on to make "hot spots" to where you can get a item or 2 to keep going on your long quest but seeing as you always return to town to get to a new area it fits the mood perfectly as a travailing adventurer that comes back to town to rest. Kinda medieval like...] 4) "Passable and expectations": It would seem like a little bi-est of a opinion if you say it this way, the small story elements that is scattered around this game when you look and find them are amazing, as you progress so too does everyone's stories. the RPG element is to look at everything you can before passing on to the next level and if you've done that and not just rush through it all you'd have a better understanding on it. Like the church, how much gel did you donate? and what did you see when you did? It's small things like that [in different times you visit] which makes it all enjoyable. 5) The Touch up: the visuals makes it heard to judge where you are going and the small enemy placements are annoying yes, but for the most part it's to do with the player and how they use each of their ability to their advantage, for example there is a heavy attack button... you didn't us it once in this video, this tells me that you was not thinking of all the potential that you did have as some bosses would have been knocked over in a semi lock if timed right and made them much more simple and faster to defeat. Though with any game not all mechanics are going to just click and you win, you must take in the "know how" from your failures and use that on the next play through, 'Should have used the boot more as Mint'... [just saying]. I'm more shocked you didn't bring up the puzzles. 6) Events: Okay, here is what you should know about this game... if one event takes place like Rue saves Elena then Mint would be free to explore without running into her until later, this plays out as more events may happen or may not happen if you've went to an area first. Example: In Rue's story, he fights the boss, than Mint arrives to take the first small relic. This only can happen for there was no meeting the family on the mountain top with Elena, so the story changes. also you can't have two people make a wish from the relic at once, so something had to change the routine so one can be victories in there travails. [Also it stops the game from being the same thing over as they both find their strengths in their own paths.] This is one of the greatest games I've played as a kid and it taught me a lot about how to make a good enjoyable game. I'm sorry to see you couldn't enjoy the game as it was meant to be enjoyed. Also things load differently if emulated, no game breaking bugs was found on a original PS1 or PS2. I do know the game punishes you for not thinking or examining your options but that is how this game was made, it made you smarter or you may have just bum-rushed your way through and found the key by chance but in most cases it makes you think "what did I do wrong" and " now how do I improve" which was a key factor that made me want to do better as a kid.

[@jakejameslugo]

I get that you enjoyed this as a kid, but all of that is your opinion, and you're wrong on a number of things you mentioned. A lot of which I showed and detailed in the video, not sure how that wasn't clear enough. If you don't like my view/stance on the game that's fine, but to say I'm bias (it's not spelled bi-est) is both silly and misguided, and more rude than you realize... It is what it is, but I don't like the game, and I explained/showed why. Get over it. Not everyone is going to feel the same about any game. The difference is that I went into a lot of detail on why I felt this game fell short, you're too busy getting caught up on other things...

[@rmjrmj4]

@@jakejameslugo Yes and it still holds up to this day, also I wanted to say again that I liked your take on it, everyone plays the game differently and as an inspired individual I take that into consideration. Yeah you did show what you wanted, I've also seen some comments showing that you've played different as you played it a second time (with Mint) and had a better understanding of what you should do on the chase part (even if you probably had no idea as you said, self concisely your gamer instincts kicked in lol). Oh, bias? I used spill check and that was the word it gave me, my bad for having a disorder. There is nothing to get over, I just shared what I knew about the game after playing it over the years. That's kinda what I said, everyone plays differently. I guess, but you also don't get what the trope of the game was or understand all the game mechanics, how long did it take you to beat this game, you say 6 or 9 to 12 hours but it should have taken a lot longer if you've read all of what it had to offer story wise. As I said I just shared some facts that I know when I played the game to it's fullest, there's no need to get so defensive. You can even fact check me by going back in the game and testing some of the things I said. (Also moonstones makes you have dreams is you take the time to rest with one at night.)

[@tmerchead1]

This was horrible terrible platforming bad level design bad combat.

[@jakejameslugo]

It was rough to play through for the review…