Lord of the Sword on the Sega Master System is one of those weird, janky-but-charming action RPGs from the late '80s. You start off in this moody forest with nothing but a sword, and the game just kinda throws you in—no handholding, no obvious path forward. I remember wandering around for ages before realizing I had to talk to random NPCs to get clues.

The combat feels stiff at first—your swings have this weird delay—but once you get used to it, there's something satisfying about timing your attacks just right against skeletons and knights. The dungeons are maze-like in that classic "hope you brought graph paper" way, and the music? Surprisingly atmospheric for an 8-bit game.

It's not perfect—some hit detection is questionable, and good luck figuring out where to go without a guide—but there's a real sense of adventure here if you're willing to meet it halfway. Just don't expect Skyrim-level polish.