Really depends on the genre but especially AAA have definitely over done it. Personally I love terraria and forager and those games are grindy like that but it fits the game. As opposed to the loot/crafting system in Control, that game really didn't need it and would have been more enjoyable without it (tho I still really enjoyed the game due to the story and telekinesis combat)

[–] blindsight@beehaw.org 9 points 9 months ago

Yeah, Terraria is a great example of a game where the grind is integral to the game. Needing to get 20 drops from a particular creature encourages you to explore the specific zone deeply enough to really enjoy it. There's no story to progress through, it's just exploration and grinding to get different materials.

Similarly for Minecraft. Is it "grinding" to mine diamonds at z-level 11, or is that the game?

JRPGs and MMOs are the ones who generally don't respect your time with their XP grind systems.