Nintendo Famicom

Elnark no Zaihou

Elnark no Zaihou (or "Treasures of Elnark") is a top-down adventure game, visually similar to Metal Gear. The player controls a young man who has traveled to the remote country Radea to rescue his famous explorer friend, who vanished shortly after sending the protagonist a letter detailing how uneasy he feels during his expedition. Notably, this game forces the player to ascertain some sort of "light vs darkness" mechanic, which prohibits the player from continuing until they perform enough actions to tip the scale towards "light". Killing hostile enemies slightly increases light, as do certain items the player might come across. Killing non-aggressive creatures (such as fairies) or collecting certain items accrues "darkness" points instead. In order to actually progress, the light meter must be fairly full and the player must use their magical stone (which normally makes the screen flash to no effect) to find a hidden boss. Defeating the boss allows the player to enter a dungeon and locate a necessary treasure.