Once upon a time in 1991, SEGA released a very brutal dungeon-crawler game called Shining and the Darkness/Shining in the Darkness.

You play the role of a knight of Castle Thornwood who joined forces with Milo Flax and Pyra Mist on a quest to explore deep in the labyrinth's depths to find Princess Jessa, who was taken by the evil wizard Mephisto (Dark Sol). Pass the trials and discover a couple of ancient mysteries along the road to battling the evil wizard.

After the success of this game, other games became part of a series. Shining Force, Shining Hearts, and others...Unlike Fire Emblem, you can revive party members at a shrine/church if they perish and you didn't (very much like many mainline Final Fantasy video games). If you were a solo traveler? One bad encounter with the monsters or a boss and then it's game over.

Feel free do discuss games like Shining in the Darkness, or even surprising retro games like Theme Park Tycoon.