Final Fantasy II (Proto) is that weird middle child of the NES trilogy—totally different from the first game, but you can see where later FF games got some of their ideas. Instead of grinding levels, your stats grow based on what you actually do in battle. Swing swords a lot? Your strength goes up. Get hit constantly? Congrats, your HP climbs (painfully).

You start with four orphans—Firion, Maria, Guy, and Leon—who get tangled up in a rebellion against the evil Palamecian Empire. The story’s surprisingly dark for an NES game, with characters actually dying and some legit emotional moments. The dialogue’s janky in that old-school translation way, but it’s got charm.

Fair warning: The progression system’s a love-it-or-hate-it thing. Magic feels underpowered unless you spam it constantly, and some stat gains feel random. But there’s something satisfying about watching your party evolve organically instead of just chasing EXP. Just don’t expect it to play like any other Final Fantasy.