Threads of Fate - PlayStation

Threads of Fate for the PlayStation 1 is a charming and underrated action-RPG from SquareSoft — known in Japan as Dewprism — developed by a small team of twenty former Xenogears developers led by director Koji Sugimoto, who wanted to create something lighter and more playful than Square's typical output.

The game tells two separate stories following two protagonists who are both searching for the same legendary relic: the Dewprism, an artifact said to grant any wish. Rue is a quiet, amnesiac young swordsman searching for a way to revive Claire — the guardian figure whose death he witnessed but cannot fully remember. Mint is the exact opposite: a fiercely petulant princess who was robbed of her rightful place on the throne of East Heaven Kingdom by her younger sister, and who intends to use the Dewprism to conquer the world and exact her revenge. Players choose one protagonist at the start, and the two stories unfold in the same world at the same time, occasionally crossing paths in ways that reveal the full picture.

Gameplay blends 3D action combat with light platforming and puzzle-solving across a series of dungeons surrounding a central hub town. Rue and Mint share the same basic moveset — melee attacks, jumps, and a circular spell selection menu — but their unique secondary abilities drive meaningfully different gameplay experiences. Rue collects coins from defeated enemies and uses them to transform into the forms of monsters he has beaten, gaining their movement abilities and special attacks to solve puzzles and navigate otherwise inaccessible areas. Mint, by contrast, is a spellcaster who learns new elemental magic throughout her story — fire, ice, lightning, and more — each with different ranges and MP costs, used both in combat and to bypass environmental obstacles. The game was deliberately produced by longtime Final Fantasy designer Hiromichi Tanaka, written by Daisuke Watanabe — who went on to write Final Fantasy X through XIII and much of the Kingdom Hearts series — and scored by composer Junya Nakano, who also contributed to the Final Fantasy main series.

Originally released in Japan on November 11, 1999 as Dewprism, Threads of Fate launched in North America on July 18, 2000 as part of Square Electronic Arts' "Summer of Adventure 2000" campaign. Early North American copies were bundled with an interactive demo disc for Vagrant Story. The game was included in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die. While it was not a major commercial success — Sugimoto attributed this to competition from other major Square titles of the same period — it developed a devoted cult following and remains a fondly remembered curiosity in Square's PS1 catalog, admired for its distinctive characters, dual-story structure, and the lighthearted tone that set it apart from everything else the studio was making at the time.

Japanese Title: デュープリズム (Dewprism)
Language: English
Rating: E (Everyone)
Platform: PlayStation 1
Genre: Action RPG
Players: 1 player
Developer: Square Co., Ltd.
Publisher: Square Electronic Arts
Release Year: 2000 (North American release: July 18, 2000)

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