I often wondered what a JRPG would feel like, if it got rid of RNG in its entirety. If it cut out most of the stats relevant for combat, to the point where you can realistically keep all the numbers in mind while picking your next action. Where you would always know whether an attack would kill the enemy in front of you - and if it didn't, exactly how much health they would have left over.

Helen's Mysterious Castle answers that question and I fucking love it. Every attack feels meaningful, every enemy feels like a puzzle to learn and understand, until I figure out a way to defeat them with the minimum amount of damage taken. No matter how often I die, it always feels like I'm improving - both through knowledge and stats.
Since there aren't any actual game overs, every time I woke up back home still felt like progress: an opportunity to rethink my strategy, upgrade or swap out my equipment and often gaining an additional healthpoint - almost as if given a reward for trying again and again.

As the game culminates with some truly difficult boss fights, all the little systems snap together to create a coherent whole: most of my equipment has been upgraded to the max (or at least close to it) and it all became about creating a setup that would allow me to withstand the enemies' attacks for long enough to get through those final encounters.

A short experience, extremely focused on its unique systems that I just wish I could find in more games of its kind. Absolutely worth checking out.