[PC] The Legend of Kyrandia - Book One (CD-ROM version) (1992)

How:
Read about it since Amiga times, got on GOG.

Pros:
- No explicit actions: just one click for everything, which works surprisingly well
- Great pixel art graphics and smooth animations
- Good voice-overs overall
- Fast movement, can skip dialogues
- Autosave

Cons:
- Can get into an unwinnable state without knowing
- The game structure and puzzles feel like a King's Quest 1 remake
- Basic inventory puzzles and lots of trial and error
- Too many useless mazes and random items
- Limited inventory slots

You transmute into a pegasus!

Mixing potions time! This is completely random and I created all possible potions.

[DS] Etrian Odyssey (2007)

How:
Somebody mentioned the game on Hardcoregaming101's forums (was looking for good DS RPG's). Got convinced by the music for the first level.

Pros:
- Amazing music by Yuzo Koshiro
- A lot of side-quests, some of which are actually nice
- Cool enemies, graphics and setting in general
- Fights can be hard and rewarding
- Well balanced for the most part
- A lot of weapons, items, magic and character classes make for many different gameplay strategies
- The mapping functionality can be fun
Cons:
- The main game is way too lengthy. Could and should have been one or two strata (5-10 levels out of 30) shorter
- Very shallow story with no side characters and rare events (and dubious ethics as well)
- Very few dialogues, cut-scenes and anything story-related
- The mapping system lacks some necessary tools, e.g. something to paint damage tiles and something to keep track of source/destination warps (quicksands, lily flowers)
- Random encounters are so very frequent