Phantasy Star II – Kind’s Adventure is one of those old-school Sega Genesis RPGs that somehow still holds up. You start off as Kinds, this scrappy hero who’s basically thrown into a world where magic and tech weirdly coexist—think swords and spaceships, which shouldn’t work but somehow does.

The battles are classic turn-based, but what really sticks with you is the atmosphere. The pixel art has this weirdly moody vibe, especially in the dungeons where you’re just waiting for some monster to jump out at you. And yeah, the difficulty spikes can be brutal—like, "why did I just get wrecked by a random encounter?" brutal.

If you’re into retro RPGs with a bit of grind and a story that actually goes places, this one’s worth dusting off. Just maybe keep a walkthrough handy for some of the more obscure puzzles.