I have been burned too many times by nostalgia-fuelled love letters to classic games, but I couldn't help but get all tingly during the reveal of Threads of Time at the Tokyo Game Show's Xbox showcase this morning. I am a sucker for time travel and an even bigger sucker for Chrono Trigger.
We've got sky pirates, a mech-infested cyberpunk city, cute lil' dinos who will almost certainly try to eat you, and a history-spanning quest to restore an ancient order known as the Time Knights. OK, you've got my attention, Threads of Time.
As you might expect from a game that cites Chrono Trigger as one of its main inspirations, you'll be making new pals all across history, and partying up with them to put a stop to a "sinister, era-spanning plot". Then there's a "dynamic turn-based combat system" which you'll use to "take down enemy defenses and bend time to your will". Bending time to my will sounds great—it would make hitting deadlines a lot easier. As well as beating up dinosaurs.
Judging by the trailer and the screenshots it's released, Canadian developer Riyo Games has certainly put together something incredibly striking. The Unreal Engine 5 romp features gorgeous handcrafted 2D characters evocative of the JRPGs that have inspired it—lots of big, colourful pixels—but the world they inhabit has a distinctly more modern aesthetic, rendered in 3D.
This screenshot of the cyberpunk future really captures the eye-catching juxtaposition, with its potent neon lighting and reflective puddles, as well as a pixelly hammer-wielding fella and a cat girl. The lad with the hammer, by the way, is also a veterinarian who "wants nothing more than for humans and dinosaurs to live in peace and harmony". I am a fan.
Threads of Time will be coming to Steam, but unfortunately there's no release date quite yet. I'm definitely going to be keeping an eye on this one, though—it looks like it'll be the perfect addition to my Steam Deck library.
