"King Dominicus orders his top Paladin to slay the terrible Chimera. But it's going to take some grinding. They'll have to build up strength by slaying everything else in their path. It's about as minimal as an RPG can get.
"This is a much-needed remake of MansterSoft's second game "Paladin's Quest". The original can still be downloaded on the MansterSoft website (you'll need DOSBox to run it)."
Not to be confused with Lennus, the MansterSoft Paladin's Quest has been updated and renamed Chimera Crusader. (I also vaguely remember a similarly-named game on PC that was a tactical RPG, but I can't recall the specifics.)
It is one of the most elemental RPGs possible; your single character has two weapon equip slots, no armor slot, and no attributes but Hit Points (which increase directly after fights, no XP or levels). You fight one-on-one battles against successfully harder enemies, grinding continuously for max HP increases and more gold to buy better weapons.
Basically an electric shot of nostalgia, if you have the patience for it!
Windows/Linux.