Inindo - Way of the Ninja is one of those weird, kinda niche SNES RPGs that somehow sticks with you. You start off as this lone ninja out for revenge—classic setup—but then it throws you into this surprisingly deep feudal Japan sandbox. The overworld map feels huge for a 16-bit game, and you’re sneaking into castles, recruiting other ninjas, even altering history by messing with warlords’ fates.

The combat’s turn-based but with this weird grid system where positioning matters. At first, I kept getting wrecked because I didn’t realize spacing your party actually changes how attacks land. And the stealth? It’s janky by modern standards, but there’s something satisfying about failing a disguise, getting chased by guards, and barely escaping through a hidden tunnel.

What really hooked me was the recruitment system. You’ll bump into random ninjas in towns or dungeons, and if your stats are high enough, they’ll join your crew. My first playthrough, I accidentally recruited this OP spear guy early on who carried my team for half the game. Also, the music slaps—tense when you’re sneaking, triumphant when you pull off some ridiculous assassination mission.

It’s not perfect (good luck figuring out some quests without a guide), but there’s nothing else quite like it on the SNES. You either bounce off hard or get obsessed with its janky charm.