Play Breath of Fire II : Shimei no Ko Online

Breath of Fire II on the GBA is one of those RPGs that just sticks with you. You start off as Ryu, a kid with a weird past and the ability to turn into dragons—which, let’s be honest, never gets old. The pixel art has this warm, lived-in feel, like every town and forest has its own little secrets.

The combat’s classic turn-based stuff, but with a twist: you can fuse spells and abilities between party members, which makes battles way more interesting than just mashing "attack." And the story? It gets surprisingly dark for a game with talking mushrooms and frog shamans. One minute you’re helping a sentient oven find its purpose, the next you’re dealing with cults and messed-up family drama.

The GBA version fixes the SNES translation (no more "Go back to your algebra!" nonsense) and tweaks some of the grindier bits. If you’ve got a soft spot for ’90s RPGs with heart, this one’s a no-brainer.