Dark Lord on NES is one of those old-school RPGs that feels like it crawled straight out of the '80s—in both good and frustrating ways. You start off as this generic hero (because of course you do) wandering into a castle full of monsters, and within minutes, you're knee-deep in turn-based battles against slimes and skeletons. The music’s got that classic chiptune vibe, and the sprites are charmingly blocky.

What’s weird is how punishing it can be—enemies hit hard, and if you don’t grind a little right off the bat, you’ll get wrecked. But there’s something oddly satisfying about slowly overpowering those early foes and finally clearing the first dungeon. Just don’t expect much hand-holding—this is the kind of game where you scribble notes on graph paper to map out the dungeons.

If you’ve got patience for retro jank and a soft spot for NES-era RPGs, Dark Lord’s worth a look. Just maybe keep a walkthrough handy.