The Faery Tale Adventure was the first "Open World" RPG I ever played. A huge map, shifting landscapes, endless dungeons, totems you had to collect and master and a hero who's skills like strength and stamina developed over the course. Even though TFTA is not known so well, it set the stage for all bird's eye view RPGs to come. At it's time it was far ahead of all the Ultima games so many people quote as the dawn of modern RPGs.