Wizardry

Wizardry's loop of fighting, earning XP and re-equipping hooked Yuji Horii. Horii said he loved building up experience, getting stronger and buying new weapons. Beating monsters in Wizardry earns experience points toward levelling up, and that loop became the backbone of Dragon Quest.

Horii's own words: "the idea of building up experience and getting stronger and buying new weapons."

Dragon Quest took Wizardry's battles and paired them with Ultima's overworld. Horii loved Wizardry and Nakamura loved Ultima, so the game was split between them. Combat used Wizardry's menu of options and large colourful sprites, while the overworld used Ultima's small walking characters.

Wizardry kept players in a claustrophobic subterranean crypt shown as a tiny 3D wireframe, a ten-storey maze. Ultima's world of Sosaria stretched out in every direction, so the two spaces felt very different. The source sums it up: "the final game combines the best of both."

Wizardry helped bring RPGs to a mass audience by arriving on home computers. RPGs only found a big audience once computers entered the home with the Apple II, where Wizardry and Ultima ran. Wizardry had a huge following in Japan.

The same pattern repeated in Japan, where RPGs only took off once Dragon Quest brought them to the Famicom.