Man, Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis on GBA still holds up. You start off as this rookie knight caught in the middle of a messy war, and right away the game throws tough choices at you—like whether to follow orders blindly or question your superiors. The political drama actually feels weighty, not just tacked on.

The battles are where it shines, though. Positioning matters way more than you’d think—put an archer on high ground and they’ll wreck faces, but leave a mage exposed and they’re toast by turn two. The Mode 7 graphics give the maps this cool pseudo-3D tilt when you move the camera, which was mind-blowing for a handheld at the time.

Fair warning: the class system takes some getting used to. I remember grinding my cleric into a ninja just to see if it’d work (it did, hilariously). If you’re into SRPGs with actual consequences for your decisions, this one’s a gem. Just don’t expect the story to hold your hand.