The Adventure of Valkyrie offers an interesting approach to advancement

The Adventure of Valkyrie: The Legend of the Time Key is a The Legend of Zelda-like that had some issues that kept it from being as memorable as other action RPGs of the time. Namely, that the Valkyrie was always swarmed by enemies and received no guidance as to what you should or shouldn’t be doing. But, there was one thing it did do right. The Adventure of Valkyrie: The Legend of the Time Key went above and beyond when it came to character advancement.