Super Daikoukai Jidai is one of those deep, old-school SNES sims that never made it outside Japan—which is a shame, because it's basically a pirate-themed sandbox with trading, naval battles, and crew management. You start by picking a captain (I went with the smuggler first, bad idea) and a tiny ship, then get thrown into this huge map where you're either hauling goods between ports, getting into cannon duels, or slowly upgrading your fleet.

The combat's janky but weirdly satisfying once you get the hang of broadsides, and there's something oddly addictive about watching your ragtag crew level up over time. Just don't expect any handholding—the menus are all in Japanese, and figuring out which ports buy silk at a markup took me way too long. Still, if you're into obscure 16-bit strategy games, this one's a hidden gem.

Also, yes, you can absolutely just say "screw trading" and go full pirate if you want.