Threads of Fate[a] is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation, released for Japan in 1999 and for North America in 2000.

The story is split between two protagonists in search of an ancient relic said to grant any wish; the amnesiac Rue who seeks to revive a dead friend, and the banished princess Mint who dreams of conquering the world.

Beginning development in 1998, director and programmer Koji Sugimoto wanted a light-hearted game to contrast against his work on Xenogears.

The script was written by Daisuke Watanabe based on a world design by Makoto Shimamoto, and the music was composed by Junya Nakano.

Threads of Fate is an action role-playing game in which players take on the role of dual protagonists Rue and Mint.

[1][4] Characters have basic movement, a jump which can be used in minor platforming sections, and two action buttons which trigger different attack combinations in real-time.

[1][3][5] Mint uses dual rings as both melee and projectile weapons, and can combine magic spells with complementary elemental abilities.

[4][3] Carona also features an item shop, a hostel where characters can recover HP, and a chapel where donations can alter elements within the game.

Mint, the selfish princess of the East Heaven Kingdom, is removed from power and banished by her sister Maya, vowing to reclaim her throne and conquer the world.

Rue and Mint end up in a parallel quest for the "Relic", an artifact left by the magically-gifted Aeon people said to grant any wish.

Sugimoto had worked as a programmer at Final Fantasy developer Square on multiple notable titles, including Chrono Trigger and Xenogears.

[9] Following his work on Xenogears, which focused on mature themes and characters, Sugimoto wanted to create something accessible for younger players with humor and a simple story set in a world of bright designs and aesthetics.

[14] Rue's transformation mechanic, suggested and implemented by the battle designers, increased the team's workload as they needed to program all the monster forms he could use.

[8] To counterbalance Rue's transformation skills, Sugimoto made Mint a magic user with a unique fighting style.

[11][12] Many team members worked overtime to complete the game, with incidents including staff sleeping in the office and motion designer Yuichi Kikuchi having nightmares about the characters.

[7] Originally Mint was going to be the sole protagonist as Sugimoto wanted to target a female audience, but then decided to broaden its potential demographic with two characters that would share graphical assets in their campaigns.

[22][23] Sugimoto created calculations where a character's eye sprites could focus on different preset lines of sight to add realism to cutscenes.

[7] The music was composed, arranged and produced by Junya Nakano, whose previous work at Square included Another Mind.

[24][25] He began working on the soundtrack in September 1998, composing between forty and fifty songs and getting them into the game starting in March 1999.

The game's main theme, which plays during the opening demo movie, was composed quickly as Sugimoto felt the intended track did not fit with its presentation.

To match the aesthetic and narrative tone, Iwasaki made most of the sounds non-threatening and cartoonish, making an exception for the Doll Master.

[10] DigiCube also released themed merchandise in the form of a printed T-shirt, a plush toy based on one of the game's enemies, and a telecassette cover illustrated by Terada.

[42] Threads of Fate formed part of a campaign run by Square Electronic Arts dubbed "Summer of Adventure 2000", releasing PlayStation titles each month between May and September with special bonuses.

[48] David Smith, writing for IGN, cited the gameplay as simple yet enjoyable and the platforming elements as more challenging than frustrating.

[49] Samuel Bass of Next Generation praised the gameplay and controls, though noted its fast pace might be off-putting to fans of Square's slower-paced RPG titles.

[3] Andrew Long of RPGamer felt the game was repetitive in its combat and character progression, including Rue's monster designs.

[6] Critics had mixed opinions on the game's difficulty, and several reviewers found issues with the in-game camera and controls.

[45] The director Sugimoto has stated that the game became a favourite both with Square fans, and staff within the company including Yoshinori Kitase and Yasumi Matsuno.

[11] Watanabe highlighted Threads of Fate as giving him confidence writing female characters, informing his work on Yuna and Lightning from the Final Fantasy series.

[54] Character outfits from Threads of Fate were featured in a 2016 collaboration with Square Enix's mobile game, Rampage Land Rankers.