Artelius is one of those obscure Famicom RPGs that never made it West—which is a shame, because it’s got this weird, grungy sci-fi vibe that stands out even among late '80s JRPGs. You start off in some run-down space colony, and right away the pixel art gives off this eerie, industrial feel. The combat’s pretty standard turn-based stuff, but the enemy designs are wild—half of them look like malfunctioning robots or mutated lab experiments.

What’s cool is how the game doesn’t hold your hand. No lengthy tutorials, just a quick intro dump and then you’re left to figure things out. I remember stumbling into my first battle totally unprepared, fumbling through menus trying to remember which command did what. The music’s got that classic chiptune tension too—synthy and tense, like you’re always one wrong move away from disaster.

If you’re into digging up forgotten Famicom gems, this one’s worth a look—just don’t expect a polished Final Fantasy clone.