Pokémon Conquest is one of those weird crossover games that shouldn’t work but totally does. Imagine Fire Emblem but with Pokémon—yeah, it’s exactly as cool as that sounds. You start off with a tiny squad of warriors and their Pokémon partners, taking over territories on a grid-based map. The battles are turn-based, but positioning matters way more than you’d think—that Pikachu might hit hard, but if you leave it out in the open, some samurai’s Arcanine will roast it in one shot.

What’s neat is how each warrior bonds with a specific Pokémon, and their abilities sync up in battle. My first run, I accidentally paired my ninja with a slow Snorlax, which was… not ideal. But once you figure out the combos, it gets addictively tactical. The feudal Japan setting gives it a fresh vibe compared to the usual Pokémon games, and the pixel art still holds up surprisingly well.

Fair warning, though—it’s easy to lose hours just trying to recruit one more warrior or evolve your team. The game doesn’t hold your hand, but that’s part of the fun.