Dragon Scroll - Yomigaerishi Maryuu is one of those obscure NES RPGs that never made it outside Japan, which is a shame because it’s got this weird charm to it. You start off as this warrior dude (or lady, I think?) trying to stop an ancient dragon from wrecking everything, and the combat’s this mix of turn-based and real-time where you actually have to time your attacks. The sprites are chunky in that classic 8-bit way, and the music’s got these surprisingly intense boss themes.

First time I played, I got wrecked by the second boss because I didn’t realize you could switch weapons mid-fight—turns out axes work better on armored enemies than swords. There’s also this weird pet system where you can tame monsters, but half of them are useless except for one specific dungeon. Feels very "90s JRPG experimental" in the best way.

If you’re into retro RPGs with janky mechanics and a grind-heavy pace, this one’s a neat deep cut. Just don’t expect a polished Final Fantasy clone.