So The Magic Candle—this old NES RPG—starts with this wild premise where you’re basically racing against a burning candle to trap a demon before it melts completely. You play as Lukas, gathering a party of weirdos (because let’s be real, RPG parties are always full of weirdos) and figuring out how to keep Dreax from wrecking everything.

It’s got that classic top-down view, but what stuck with me was the job system. Need cash? Your party can actually work—like, chopping wood or fishing—which sounds boring until you realize it’s the only way to afford better gear before the candle burns out. The time pressure makes even small decisions feel weirdly tense. I remember restarting twice because I wasted days on dumb side stuff while the candle just… kept dripping.

Definitely one of those "wait, this was on the NES?" games with more depth than you’d expect.