Might and Magic: Secret of the Inner Sanctum is one of those old-school NES RPGs that feels like diving into a dungeon master’s notebook. You start with a party of four—fighters, mages, thieves, the usual—and immediately get thrown into this weird, grid-based world where every step could mean stumbling into a fight or a hidden treasure. The first time I played, I got wrecked by a random encounter five minutes in because I didn’t realize how brutal the difficulty could be.

What’s cool is how open it feels for an NES game. You can wander into towns, talk to NPCs who drop cryptic hints, and even stumble into areas way above your level if you’re not careful. The spell system’s a bit clunky (good luck remembering which number corresponds to "Fireball"), but once you get the hang of it, there’s something satisfying about mapping out dungeons on graph paper like it’s 1989.

It’s definitely not for everyone—the graphics are basic, and the combat’s menu-heavy—but if you’ve got patience for retro RPG quirks, it’s a neat time capsule. Just save often unless you enjoy replaying the first hour over and over.