Shining in the Darkness is one of those old-school dungeon crawlers that just feels right—if you’re into grid-based movement, dark corridors, and the constant fear of running into something nasty around the next corner. You start off with a basic party—knight, mage, priest—and immediately get thrown into a labyrinth under the castle, where the king’s daughter has mysteriously vanished. No hand-holding here, just you, your map (or a notepad if you’re old-school), and a whole lot of random encounters.

The combat’s turn-based, but what really gets you is the atmosphere. The music’s eerie, the dungeons twist and loop in ways that’ll make you second-guess every turn, and the monsters? Some of them hit hard. You’ll spend half your time grinding for gold just to afford better gear, and the other half praying your priest doesn’t run out of MP before the next heal. It’s punishing in that classic early-’90s way, but when you finally stumble onto a new weapon or solve a puzzle that’s been stumping you for an hour, it feels earned.

If you’ve got the patience for it, this is one of the Genesis’ best RPG deep cuts. Just don’t expect to finish it in one sitting.