Not all video game enthusiasts enjoy the process of grinding, often defined as seeking out additional combat in a game in order to earn rewards and level increases. In many role-playing games or RPGs, grinding can seem mandatory since the player would be unable to level up enough to finish the game without it.
Though grinding is a recognized and common feature for RPG titles, it isn't always a heavy requirement. Many games provide enough sidequests, linear level growth, or other elements that render traditional grinding unnecessary. Story-driven RPGs are especially likely to eschew a need for players to grind, as it would take away from the narrative.
10 Mass Effect Is Meant To Be Immersive
Mass Effect, the iconic science fiction RPG franchise from EA, is intended to immerse the player in its futuristic world. The series is exceptionally narrative-driven, with a heavy emphasis on the player's choices to determine how the events of each game will play out.
As a result, the player doesn't need to pause the story to pursue random encounters. Instead, they follow the story through its many twists and turns, learning new skills and gaining new equipment as needed rather than through the process of grinding.
9 Kingdom Hearts Keeps The Option Open
While it is not impossible to grind in the Kingdom Hearts franchise, it's also not required. Each Kingdom Hearts game includes a variety of different sidequests and optional activities the player can use to upgrade their magic, skills, and equipment.
Though nothing prevents the player from returning to areas they visited before re-trigger random encounters for grinding, there's also nothing requiring them to do so. As long as gamers use the most optimal keyblades and don't make a habit of running from fights, there's no need for them to grind.
8 Witcher 3 Replaces Traditional Grinding With Sidequests
Many modern, more story-focused RPGs include a massive amount of sidequests and optional missions as a method to eliminate the need for traditional grinding. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt offers a vast abundance of tasks for the player to take up that can improve their skills and enable them to take on higher-level enemies earlier in the game.
Some gamers have even considered that completing all elective adventures before focusing on the story campaign makes players over-leveled for the battles that await them.
7 Fallout Presents A Straightforward Experience
Fans of the Fallout series enjoy its narrative-driven gameplay that de-centers combat in the RPG experience. While Fallout does have a combat system that players enjoy, it isn't the main draw to the games.
Gamers can approximate the effect of grinding in the Fallout games by pursuing all their optional side-missions; they can also focus entirely on the story missions without being under-leveled for the tasks they need to undertake. The main quests alone contain enough practice and development for the player to optimize and diversify their skillset without excess effort.
6 Chrono Trigger Lets Each Player Choose
Chrono Trigger, the iconic and classic RPG from Square Enix, seems to strike the ultimate balance in terms of grinding. Many players enjoy taking on traditional grinding within the game, while others enjoy their gaming experience without it.
Originally published in 1995, Chrono Trigger was one of the first story-focused RPGs to become widely known and popular within the gaming industry. Its reputation has held up ever since as one of the best RPGs ever made, with many revolutionary gameplay aspects that became genre standards.
5 Final Fantasy X Requires The Least Grinding In Its Series
Suppose gamers want to avoid grinding while enjoying renowned RPG series. In that case, they may want to try Final Fantasy X. Frequently named as the installment in the franchise that requires the least grinding to beat, Final Fantasy X is focused on blitzball players from the fictional world of Spira.
Final Fantasy X introduced several new gameplay mechanics to the series, including the turn-based battle system that pauses the action. This alternative to the previous battle arrangement takes away players' time concerns when choosing which move to use on their current turn.
4 Chrono Cross Has A Unique System
Another RPG title from Square Enix in the 1990s was Chrono Cross. While this game didn't make as much of a widespread, lasting impact on the gaming world as Chrono Trigger did, its unique combat system is still considered an interesting experiment by gamers of all ages.
The progression of difficulty and skill in the game works through the stamina bar and acquiring different Elements the player can equip to each character. The lack of experience points or equivalent rewards for completing battles made typical grinding a non-option for Chrono Cross fans.
3 The Last Story Keeps Potential Grinding In A Specific Area
The Last Story is an action RPG published by Nintendo in 2011 set in the island fortress of Lazulis, where a group of mercenaries gets caught in the crossfire of an ongoing war. The uncommon approach The Last Story takes to grinding makes it an optional activity instead of a requirement in the gameplay process.
Players can approach summoning circles in various locations to make enemies appear for them to defeat. However, many players say they completed the game without engaging with the summoning system.
2 Undertale Took A Different Approach
Undertale took the gaming world and the RPG genre by storm when it was released in 2015. This iconic title contained a significant amount of content in a compact package, with each route playable in the vicinity of six hours. Unique among its RPG fellows, Undertale effectively doesn't require grinding on two of its three routes.
The result of each battle has a potentially world-changing impact on the plot and which ending the player will get. Pacifists can avoid doing any harm whatsoever, while completionists seeking the Genocide ending are required to find every random encounter and destroy their foes. While the Genocide route may resemble traditional grinding, it's more about completion than gaining resources.
1 Dragon Age Focuses More On Player Choices
The Dragon Age franchise from EA is an RPG and does require combat, but it does not feature grinding as a main focus of the player's attention. Instead, each player has the option to directly and greatly impact the events of the world around them through their interactions.
What gamers choose to do on their Dragon Age playthroughs decides how the games' lore changes around them. As a result, they're far more focused on which route they wish to take rather than garnering experience points and leveling their character.