Old Famicom Game, help me out!

So, there was this old game I used to play on an Emulator. It was kind of a Zelda clone, and I want you guys to help me figure it out. I THINK it was made by Namco, just because in Soul Calibur 2 Sophitia had an extra costume which looked exactly like the main character from this game. (Not Cassandra; Sophitia)

Anyway, you played as a girl with particularly long hair, whose sprite was about as big as Link's from the original Legend of Zelda. When starting the game you'd choose a vibrant color for your character to wear, like bright red or blue or yellow. There was a big list, including the color white, which was the default. After killing a certain amount of enemies, if you found a cottage, you'd level up. And somewhere south of one of these cottages was a portal, and it would transport you to an area with lots of sand. For some reason it killed you if you stayed for too long. Also you could find an axe to cut down trees with.

Anyone know it?

Holy :bou::bou::bou::bou: bro, you're still looking?

Anyway, did some digging and my best guess is that you're talking about The Krion Conquest aka Magical Kids Doropie in Japan. There are elements of The Tower of Druaga and The Guardian Legend in what you talk about, but The Krion Conquest is the only one I can find where you can choose outfit colors like you describe.

It's definitely not that; This one was purely overhead, and took place entirely outdoors from what I could tell.

I think you're talking about Valkyrie no Bouken: Toki no Kagi Densetsu. Sophitia didn't have a costume for her, but there are elements for Sophitia taken from this game (her weapon Valkyrie in SCI, for example). Any help?

And there it is. After years of searching. I love you, Rase.