Elfaria II is one of those SNES RPGs that flew under the radar back in the day, but man, it’s got this weirdly cozy vibe. You start off in this little forest village where everything looks like a watercolor painting—soft blues and greens, like someone smudged the edges of the sprites. The music’s all flutes and harps, and then bam, some wizard dude tells you the world’s magic is leaking away. Classic.

Combat’s turn-based but with a twist: you can combine spells mid-battle if you time it right. Took me forever to figure out that fire + wind doesn’t just make bigger fire—it turns into this tornado of flames that cooks groups of enemies. The dialogue’s cheesy in that 90s way ("The Meld’s power wanes, hero!"), but the pixel art for the cutscenes is legit gorgeous. Found myself grinding just to see the next town’s weird architecture—one place is built inside a giant hollow tree.

If you’re into SNES-era RPGs with a side of janky charm, this one’s a solid time capsule.