Okay, so Hiouden: Legend of the Scarlet King is one of those weird, obscure SNES RPGs that somehow slipped under the radar back in the day. You start off in this moody, almost gothic fantasy world where everything’s got that classic 16-bit charm—think detailed sprites, eerie forests, and castles that actually look like someone put effort into them.

The combat’s turn-based but with a twist: you’ve got these demon pacts where you can summon creatures to fight alongside you. At first, I just picked whatever looked cool (because, obviously), but turns out some of them have weirdly specific synergies. Like, pairing a fire demon with a certain sword actually melts armor? Took me way too long to figure that out.

Story’s got that old-school JRPG vibe—prophecies, ancient curses, the usual—but there’s this underlying creepiness to it. One minute you’re chatting with villagers, the next you’re stumbling into a dungeon where the walls are literally made of bones. No hand-holding, either. You’ll get lost, you’ll backtrack, and yeah, you’ll probably die to some random boss because you didn’t grind enough. But that’s part of the charm.

If you’re into retro RPGs with a dark edge, this one’s worth dusting off.