rpg and the art of grind.

i take a dim view of games that seem to impose mandatory grind in order to progress in a game and/or gain secret/extra items. we've all been there; coasting through a game until the brick-wall boss or ultra-dungeon stymies progress. it's rarely worth sitting through repetitive random battles just to increase an attack stat by a few digits.

however, if the battle system is varied enough, sometimes it can be worth it. take eternal sonata; the first half of the game presents no challenge at all, and battles can all be won with the exact same tactics. however in the other half, particularly in the optional dungeon at the end, the difficulty is ramped skyward and a different strategy is required for each battle. it's a shame that this difficulty couldn't be spread over the whole game to achieve an even balance throughout, as a consequence many people were probably put off by the game.

this all relates to the single-player experience though. in a mummorpoger (to quote yahtzee) the grind has an ulterior purpose that can translate into real world gains. but let's not go there.