EDIT: Never mind, in my haste to spread the joy of this game, I skipped past most of the previous replies, and have only just noticed the no DRM requirement, so I'm guessing console games are out of the question.

Wondering if the use of emulators would be ok for the OP but they've never stated what computer specs they had, pretty sure this one game would be right up your alley if you were to use an emulator.

How about Cthulhu Saves the World?

I am OK with emulators. Basically, for console games, my requirementis are that:
* The console must be emulatable on a modern PC. (I could tighten the requirement further if I wished by requiring it to work on, say, a Raspberry Pi.)
* The console must not have internet capability, and in particular, must not have an online store.

Also, it's preferable, for console games, if the game was originally released on a cartridge or floppy disk rather than on optical media. (Console games on floppy do exist; see the Famicom Disk System for an example.)

Hm, you responded, and I can tell you about all the games you've just named because I own them, and love most of them. I only pointed out Fire Emblem Awakening to you because it was good enough to break my stance on strategy games (don't care for them), and it partly fulfills your parameters. Then Fates ruined it, and I'm not touching FE again.

I don't know what remakes you're talking about for Etrian Odyssey. For the 3DS, there's IV and V, plus the Untold Stories, and the upcoming (to the US) series swansong, Nexus. The Untold Stories have a story mode in addition to classic mode. I would probably rank the games IV, Untold 2, V, Untold 1. (The Persona Q series is similar.)

Bravely Default was good, but I never finished it. (Consequently never played BD2, which is a sequel and will spoil BD right at the beginning.) If you completed everything in the demo, it rewarded you for each goal you achieved with stuff in the main game.

Legend of Legacy's leveling system is like FFII. Random stat gains depending on what you do in battle. Didn't you say no random stat gains? There were a lot of gimmicks I enjoyed, but the random stat gain got really tedious. (On a side note, The Alliance Alive was made by the same people, with its own set of enjoyable gimmicks, and random stat gain getting tedious.)

Finally, Dragon Quest 7... What can I say? We had this for PS in Japanese, and I never really liked it. Tried it again, and I'm pretty sure I stopped playing around the same point. I'm not even sure what it is, because what I've seen of the story is pretty interesting, and this version added stuff (mystery dungeon-like things similar to IX, grinder's paradise).

As for Phantasy Star... I have a vague recollection I played one of them when I was a kid. Dunno which one or even if it's the right series. The recent Switch rerelease looks nothing like what I remember.

If you're interested in Switch, there's Octopath Traveler. I've only played the original demo, but I know a lot of people who love it. Visually, it's like enhanced retro. Music excellent. Battle system similar to Bravely Default.

I think I can suggest something you may like: Lufia and the Fortress of Doom and its sequel (prequel?) for the SNES. Not many people seem to know this series, but I have fond memories.

I thought it was the best one of the series. I loved it but I neglected most of the extras.

To my understanding, the Untold games are remakes of the first two games.

(By the way, your mention of Persona Q remides me that I own SMT: Strange Journey, but I have never played it.)

I actually like Final Fantasy 2, even with all its (rather serious) flaws. Random stat gain isn't as much of a problem here because there's no mechanic that plays the role of a level cap as far as stats are concerned, so there's no missable stats in that game. (This is also true for most SaGa games, though SaGa 2 has some funniness regarding max HP, and the original SaGa 3 has conventional leveling with random HP/MP gains.)

I could mention Dragon Quest 3 as having a similar situation; stat gains are random, but there are seed items that you can use to boost them, it's possible to get them via random drops, and in the remakes of said game, you can use Thieves to drastically increase the drop rate. (In fact, while playing the GBC version, I actuall farmed enough seeds to max out the Hero's INT, giving her over 500 MP; handy given that she is the only one able to cast the two most expensive spells in the game without having to use Transform (which can be dispelled) first.

(Those games aren't quite what I'm thinking of, but they're games I am either interested in or have enjoyed playing.)

I played these two games when they were first released, and while enjoyable, I don't like them as much as the classic Dragon Quest games they (especially 1) were clearly inspired by. Also, the problem with Lufia 2's puzzles is that they can halt progression for those mainly into RPG mechanics; Lufia 2 also suffered from the main game's combat being too easy, and I consider the Ancient Cave unplayable due to the lack of the ability to save (and the dungeon is too long for one playing session).

Are they?! Genuinely did not know. That never came up while I was looking up stuff for these. Also didn't help that I never played the original 3 for DS (poor young 'un at the time). Apologies.


EDIT: Apologies again, just noticed other people have responded. :p

I don't know what it was myself. I just lost interest when I got the flying carpet, which should have been the point when the game really opens up. That this happened twice is weird.