Kogado's Miracle Warriors - one of the first JRPGs released in the west, stood apart with their battle quirks (e.g. only one character attacks per turn) and their juxtaposition of third-person & birds-eye viewpoints, with the former view focused on interactions and the latter on navigation. Its main drawbacks are simply the drawbacks of its generation: 3rd-gen combat was almost always slow and monotonous - bestowing challenge mainly through RNG (tough sporadic encounters, misses, escape chance, etc.), and this is no exception. Lofty grind-driven goals (for both equipment & progression) as well as hints, uneven fights and punishing setbacks are also effective time-killers built to mask its limited cart space. There are - however, some creative and perhaps visionary ideas at work. Popularity, a karma point value raised and lowered during battle, is the typical somewhat harsh system (plunging badly after defeating certain troops, and denying access to town services at low levels) that nevertheless feeds into its Talk command, a battle function that awards bonuses (tips, healing) or penalties (stolen gold, missed turns) from human encounters.

Imagineer coined a uniquely minimal (level-less, item-limited, currency-less and party-less) form of JRPG with Quest 64, whose light storytelling, vast 3D areas and day/night cycles brought them closer to computer-RPGs than to its console-born siblings. What is undoubtedly CRPG-like - however, is their flexible upgrade system. Stat-leveling in the vein of FFII (i.e. earned from various parts of combat) is joined by collectible skill points distributed between 4 elements (which unlock new spells of that type and increase their power). Their combinations - from balanced spreads to a dual-type hyperfocus, governs the player's build with their own merits and limits. That sense of freedom well-complements their turn-based battles; seamless, responsive on-map gameplay with confined movement/dodging that's heavy on the spellcasting, reined in a little by elemental weaknesses and resistance. These two features rescue a work that otherwise would be dull and clumsy, as its lengthy overworld & dungeons plus a general dearth of content (other than a handful of pickups) make for some patience-testing trips. As a result, gameplay oscillates between moments of snappy, entertaining semi-action and sheer torture.

This brief project is many things at once, and - depending on taste, some conclusions are more prominent than others: A few great ideas placed on weak foundations. A half-baked mess. An interesting compromise between action & tactical gameplay. A novel fusion of Western/J-RPG languages, or even a grim omen of their genre's future; of the overscaled, empty worlds that progressively defined the next generation onwards. At the very least - though, a fascinating artifact of its era.

Treasure Hunter G marked Sting Entertainment's initial venture into RPGs - pivoting around segmented, AP-driven tactics with the option to move/attack diagonally. Other components, both in-battle and out, further prove that this is far from the usual SRPG. Its creative weapon functions (e.g. spear attacks that also hit those directly behind the user) are backed by concepts not normally found in the genre, including DnD-esque item throws, tile-trapping, variable AP consumption (influenced by enemy proximity), random teleports and knockbacks. No less distinctive is their economy. Money is earned not via battles but by collecting/selling loot salvaged from environmental objects; interesting (and thematically sound) if not particularly exciting, a quality that also applies to its shops (purchasing items on display rather than from a menu) and puzzles (centered on riddles). They also craft detailed towns and interiors much like their publisher - but in general, combat is the prevailing feature here. With the help of preset fights a la Chrono Trigger (i.e. mob-activated & fixed ambushes taking place on the current map), these battles fuse the concise nature of encounter-based strategy with the design variety of their mission-based brethren, somewhere between Arc the Lad and Tactics Ogre.

On the other hand, its story and characters are hardly memorable, despite the amount of cutscenes and despite some truly strange moments - and, given their myriad variations in layouts, encounters are potentially hit or miss (with boss fights leaning towards the latter end).