Chantelise - A Tale of Two Sisters

🧚🏻‍♀️ A fully-fledged, solid classic and an excellent example of those small Japanese PC games from the 2000s. The RPG part is gear-based, with no levels. There's currency grinding, an interesting magic pick-up mechanic, small but memorable locations, secrets, and a light, enjoyable story. It won't be easy, but it encourages you to get used to the gameplay features. Bosses can seem more difficult than they are. Considering the price, release year (2006), and the content offered, this is a win for fans of all of the above. You can easily spend 10+h in it, trying out optional things (like fishing) and testing your gear.

cutest game to ever exist? yes!!!!

From the mid 2000's, a few things are old and antiquated, but this game will give you a run for your money if you want a good challenge. The magic system is unique in that as you damage enemies via your melee combo, they spew colored magic gems which affect which magic you can use depending on the order they are picked up and used in. Because of this game's chaotic nature, you really do have to improvise constantly since the way magic gems spew out of enemies is randomized. This means that you have to sit down and understand the game's mechanics and test new magic combinations as you are able to use them, because if you do not then you will get stuck. There are a lot of hidden chests that give items that will give you HP or special techniques if you get stuck, so don't be afraid to refer to a guide to find them because they are genuinely completely random with no tell how to get most of them normally, it can be as random as hitting one specific pillar or falling off an edge at a specific angle to reach a lower place holding a chest. I couldn't get this to run in fullscreen, so you'll probably need a special program to do so.

This game is interesting. At its core, it is an unforgiving, dungeon-crawling action RPG. It does not hold your hand and is punishingly difficult at times. It may have the aesthetic of baby's first anime (like all Carpe Fulgur games), but it's a solid game with a perfect level of difficulty and exploration, in my opinion. It scratches an itch very similar to a Souls game for me. Play it, get caught off guard, get bodied, overcome adversity. You'll have a good time.

clipped out of bounds and accidentally went to title screen with out saving several times

Loved Recettear, so thought I would try this one out. The controls make it unplayable for me. Instead of dashing being its own button you need to run+jump+attack all at once. This has made jumping to attack flying enemies while on the move difficult, and when I need to dodge, sometimes only an attack or jump will go off instead. The game is not controller friendly and will endlessly spin the camera. Game will not even load up if you choose fulls-creen mode on modern computers.