Defender of the Crown on GBA is this weird little mix of strategy and action that somehow works. You start off picking a knight to play as—I went with the red one because, well, he looked cool—and suddenly you're thrown into medieval England trying to conquer territories. It's got that Risk-style map where you move armies around, but then it switches to these janky but fun action bits.

One minute you're planning troop movements, the next you're mashing buttons in a jousting match where the lance physics feel just slightly off (in a good way). The castle sieges are the best part—you get to fling catapult shots at walls while dodging arrows, and it's way more satisfying than it should be for a GBA game. The sword fights are clunky, but in that nostalgic early-2000s handheld way.

Honestly, it shouldn't hold together as well as it does, but there's something charming about how it jumps between grand strategy and arcade-y mini-games. Just don't expect deep tactical gameplay—this is more about vibes than balance.