Realized something genius about Dragon Quest's design
so in the first game, they start you out in the king's room where he exposits to you and tells you about one of the major goals to beat the game
However, the room is locked, so you can't exactly get out right away
The king suggests you to take a look at the chests
So you press A and open the chests, and one of the items in the chests is a key
Basically, the game teaches you how to interact with objects and get loot, and it's also a subtle "gate" where you have to "practice" the interaction to progress