Dragon Slayer laid the foundations for the
action role-playing game genre, influencing future series like
Ys.
Xanadu was an early
real-time action RPG with full-fledged character
statistics, and it introduced several innovative gameplay mechanics, such as the Karma morality system, individual experience for equipped items, The game begins with the player directly in control of the protagonist, with little to no introduction. To progress, one must speak with the king, who gives the player the bare essentials and a small amount of cash to train. After selecting which attributes to raise, the player must navigate of the city and into the vast underground complex. Finding this exit is the first of many puzzles the player will encounter, though the game is not a puzzle game but a
role-playing video game with puzzle game and
adventure game elements. The protagonist can move left and right, climb down ladders, jump, cast equipped spells, enter doors, or use equipped items. Similar to
Falcom's own later
Ys series, damage is done by walking directly into the enemy; however, unlike with
Ys, in
Xanadu it doesn't matter which part of the target's body the player character runs into. The main view in
Xanadu is a side-scrolling platformer view, though it is more in line with
Sorcerian than a typical platformer such as
Super Mario Bros. When engaging in a battle or entering a building, the view is changed to a
top-down perspective. Each "layer" or stratum has its own complex network of buildings, caves and tunnels. To
level up, the player must visit temples, where a minister will grant a level up to the protagonist provided the player has enough
experience points. Otherwise, the minister will let the player know how much is needed to go up a level. There are two types of levels: fighting and magic. Fighting experience is raised through combat, and magic though spell use. The two systems go hand in hand and are used at the same time. Each enemy killed is either good or bad, even though all enemies will attack the player character. If the player kills too many good enemies, the Karma statistic will rise, at which point the temples will refuse to level up the player. This can be remedied by drinking a black poison bottle; these cannot be carried nor bought, and must be found within dungeons, and will remove half the protagonist's hit points. All equippable items, such as swords and armor, have their own experience levels. This is raised simply by using the item; for example, swords by attacking, armor by being hit, magic by casting the spell, and so on. In this sense, a highly developed dagger will be more effective than a brand new
longsword. A highly developed sword will be far more useful than a maxed out dagger, so it is vital to upgrade equipment.
Xanadu has a limited number of enemies in each area, to deter
powerleveling. This requires the player to think ahead about how he handles the enemies, how to get the most experience out of them, and to keep Karma from getting too high. This is a factor that must be juggled with weapon experience; if the player defeats all enemies using a dagger, then upgrades to a sword and proceeds to fight the area's boss, the player will be at a disadvantage and should have either kept the highly developed dagger, or bought the sword early on so as to level it up with the finite number of encounters in the area. Every area generally has at least one boss, although it is not always required to fight them. Enemies will drop various items, but most commonly will drop money or food. Money is used for upgrading equipment and buying items. The protagonist slowly eats his supply of food as time passes in the game. This slowly heals
hit points as well. If food runs out, hit points begin dropping at a rapid pace until more food is found or bought, or the protagonist dies. In addition to purchasing them, items can be found in chests and in dungeon areas, or by entering a secret code name at the character creation area at the outset. The game
autosaves right before a boss fight and, in some versions, after leaving a building. The player can manually save, which costs 100 gold. The Sega Saturn remake did away with this by adding a Save command in the status menu. ==Film==