Fortunately,
Threads of Fate has a good bit of gameplay to make up for the rather mediocre showing in the other departments. Yeah, you'll want to throw the controller out of the window once or twice when a stupid jumping puzzle has you missing the last jump five times in a row, but the ability to be new creatures in one storyline and to be entertained by the sheer humor of the other story will keep you playing the game.
In Threads of Fate, you take the role of either sombre Rue or maniacal Mint. Each character has their own storyline, even though they tend to take place in the same locations, and each character has their own unique style of play. Both are good, but I found that they are rather unequal in quality.
Rue's story is a good bit darker in tone than Mint's, but in doing so, it enters the rather generic fantasy realm. Rue is out to learn just what he is -- he can transform into different beasties, which often hold the key to solving various puzzles in the game. His caretaker died at the hands of a mad maniac, and he's looking for a mystical Relic (or, in Square-speak, [relic]) to bring her back to life. As you play the game with Rue, you'll find yourself switching bodies by transforming constantly, using the flaming abilities of one creature to off another and the swift running of a second to bypass annoying enemies. It's a very cool idea, and it generally works quite well. Unfortunately, at times it feels a little too gimmicky for its own good, much like the recent Fur Fighters. Creatures exist with special abilities for the sole purpose of getting past obstacles, to be discarded immediately afterwards.
Mint's story, on the other hand, just barely manages to be about a hero. She's out for revenge from the family that kicked her out of her royal seat -- as the save description says early on in the game, she's after "World domination, baby!" Mint's story managed to make me grin like a fool quite a few times, since she's a punk and she knows it. It's cool to play a good guy who's really not all that good, although it may turn some people off as you may not really -want- her to win. Ah, well. Her gameplay is based on spells, reminiscent of Secret of Mana. There are different schools of magic, and different methods in each school, and they combine to make different sorts of spells. For example, a wide Air shot makes a five-way gun, whereas a wide Water shot makes triple blades of water. You'll have to experiment to see which spells work best on which enemies.
The game itself is quite entertaining, even if the plot sometimes degenerates into a little too much silliness for its own good. The whole Pinto thing absolutely cracked me up, though, and it's that sort of irreverent humor that really flavors Mint's storyline. Rue has a little humor here and there, but it's usually brought in by Mint herself.
