well, finally got around to playing through this one. i'd really like to give it an even higher rating, too, because it's such a cool proto-survival horror jrpg adventure, and i love how it looks, i love its music (even if it is spread way too thin, it completely whips ass. like, the final boss music is straight up black metal: ugly, primitive, menacing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UagrRqidHI)... but the inventory management—knowing who should be grouped together and when, who should carry what, which items to leave behind when you find something new and potentially important—i feel like it really hampers the mood. even though it's also kind of the point.

to its credit, this is a game where you can make it through without every character surviving, and deceased characters' unique abilities are not lost, as you can find items which serve their purpose. of course, as you can imagine, inventory management becomes even more of an issue... this is a pretty stressful game! random battles are persistent as hell.

on presentation alone, i could easily call this one of my favorite famicom games. even with the music pieces used over and over throughout the game. to my knowledge there's not much else occupying this specific niche!