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[DunDunDunpachi]

Sitting in a dim basement in front of a CRT practicing the same 3-minute stage for hours upon hours sounds like a bad cliche, but that's typically how I play shmups. The "hours upon hours" aren't all at one time, but I generally sink 30m a day into a game I've been playing faithfully since early 2017 called Dodonpachi Daioujou (yes, my namesake comes from that franchise). For a game that clocks about 22 minutes from start to finish, I've sunk over 1,000 hours into practicing it, the same bosses hundreds of times, the same stages hundreds more. While practicing full-level chains, I've restarted too many times to count that I can recite the sequence without a problem: 'Start', Up (to highlight Quit), Left (to highlight Yes), Circle Three Times, Right (to highlight B ship), Square, Left (to highlight Exy), then Square again, and I'm back in the action with only about 5 seconds lost.

What's the most repetitive grind you've endured? Maybe it was an MMO, or a racing game, or a fighting game.

It's a strange phenomenon. Grinding is certainly not an entertaining thing to watch on Twitch or YouTube, but this sort of practice is the backbone of high-skill genres like fighting, Vs puzzle, FPS, shmup, and any other competitive genre where muscle memory can give you a leg up. Grinding is utterly boring to watch, and if you don't enjoy the game, utterly boring to participate in.

Yet, for those select few games that capture my heart, grinding is a very enjoyable time-waster. I'm self-reflective enough to gradually improve my skills, which is a special sort of satisfaction that not every videogame can offer. This mode of gaming is sometimes shunned because it "feels like work", but I view it more like improving your skills at a boardgame or a sport. Not every videogame is worth being "sport-ified" in this way of course. And not everyone wishes to treat their games this way.

 

[Fuz]

Back in vanilla, farming the ogres in Deadwind Pass as a rogue. I don't even remember why I was doing it (cloth for AQ, maybe). It was... relaxing and very enjoyable.

I usually hate grind.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

The platinum of FFXIII. it requires farming some ultra rare item that is only dropped by an enemy that only has one respawn spot and for killing it in little time you need a special skill that only works 1 out of 20 times or so. Royal pain in the fucking ass.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

When I played Castlevania SoTN on PS1 20+ years ago, I couldn't figure out how to do a lot of damage vs. that huge goat boss without getting nailed (the boss that takes up two screens with the lightning attack). So I spammed Moon Rod shots from off the screen best I could. Musta took 10 minutes to kill him.

In recent times, I didn't sit there watching it, but in Skyrim I wanted my Block rating to hit 100, so in a few sessions I rubberbanded my shield up, crouched in a corner and let wolves and easy monsters to attack me endlessly. When I did it, I left the room and came back an hour later.

 

[Deleted member 738976]

I guess World of Warcraft? Some builds made grinding mobs fun like protection paladin.

 

[TacosNSalsa]

Monster Hunter World because fighting the monsters is fun especially in co-op. DMC seems like it's going to be fun grinding for orbs ..because , once again, the core gameplay is fun so I don't mind fighting things over and over . Also the rankings of each engagement is also a draw tring to get SSS

 

[brap]

Trading off fixing turrets in Bioshock 2 multiplayer to level up and get some trophy. So fucking tedious. Then some asshole was always glitching out of the map and killing us because he was like level 100 and had nothing better to do.

 

[Wings 嫩翼翻せ]

Think I mentioned this in another thread, but leveling myself up on Hollow Bastion in Kingdom Hearts II so I could have enough HP to fight Sephiroth. Granted I found my way to that point without using much HP and it was quite a while before I was able to actually withstand those menacing sword swipes.

 

[Dthomp]

Too many to pinpoint just one as I'm a semi active trophy hunter, but ones that stick out the most....SCHOOL MODE or whatever it is called in the Danganronpa games. I hate thinking about that timesink in each of the first two titles

 

[DeepEnigma]

Diablo 2 Power Leveling, and Magic Find grinds.

 

[Shifty]

MH: World is an easy one since that game's core loop is grind made fun by top-tier gameplay.

I guess Destiny 2 is a recent-ish one for me. I played seasons 1 and 2 through with a friend and did a solid amount of grinding to get some of the cooler gear. Kinda dropped off when they released Forsaken, but it was fun refining my sunburst momentum build.

Oh and Dragon's Dogma, I definitely put a lot of time into that. The Ur-Dragon and Bitterblack content can suck up an ungodly amount of hours if you're looking to really dig into the endgame.

DMC seems like it's going to be fun grinding for orbs ..because , once again, the core gameplay is fun so I don't mind fighting things over and over . Also the rankings of each engagement is also a draw tring to get SSS

Farming in mission 13 can be really fun thanks to the online encounters. Really handy for experimenting with Dante's weapon loadouts too.

When you get a full party in that last room and lay waste to hordes of enemies in style, then pop an EX taunt before everyone leaves...

 

[Chozofication_]

Probably pokemon breeding.

This gen though i'd say digimon cyber sleuth was pretty damn laborious

 

[OldGamer]

MMO and F2P Mobile games are about as grindy as they get. Because they never ever end until you just say stop and put an end to the cycle. Generally worse if you are a completion like me. WoW was my MMO back in the day and spent 2 years on that. Mobile gaming wise, it was One Piece Treasure Cruise, which I spend 1 1/2 years grinding until I gave up.

Now if you are talking a continuous long grind in a more short term, it is probably a tie between getting all trophies in the Batman Arkham series due the just how many Challenge maps have to be played and replayed, including all DLC and 100%ing and getting all PS trophies in Tales of Vesperia. Both took me over a month to accomplish at roughly 40 hours per week.

I'm sure there are others from my PS2, PS and SNES days, but right now nothing sticks. Maybe some level grinding in a JRPG? I'm suer someone will mention one that has just slipped my mind.

 

[KOMANI]

I enjoyed forbidden woods grind in bloodborne. All my level grinding on suikoden 1 & 2. I did NOT enjoy the mgsv grind,

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Probably pokemon breeding.

This gen though i'd say digimon cyber sleuth was pretty damn laborious

What in particular made Cyber Sleuth grindy? I though the last few Digimon console games we're well received.

 

[alabtrosMyster]

I recall having to grind for a couple of days just to be able to reach a level high enough to beat the last dingeon/boss in Phantasy Star II (It's not that bad compared to others here, so I'll walk out embarrassed by my lack of dedication to my hobby).

 

[epicnemesis]

I don’t remember the details, but there was a Dragon Ball Z RPG on the GBA back in the day, and I discovered there was a monster on Namek that gave a lot of exp when you killed them that would Respawn every time you entered and exited a house. I grinded that to max level. Despite being really boring the thought of gaming the game really appealed to kid me.

 

[n0razi]

Gold Chocobos

 

[Mr Hyde]

Rare Blood Gems in Bloodborne. Ventured in to the most brutal and unforgiving chalice dungeons in the game, some of them so insane it makes me cry inside as to why I do it. The dungeons can get repetitive, look the same and sometimes you don´t even get any good gems. The only thing you do is just die, over and over again. But when you do get that rare gem that ups your weapon, it´s oh so sweet. It also helps that Bloodborne is the best game ever made, with the most fun and crazy combat in any action game.

 

[zenspider]

By your definition, my favorite grind was Sin & Punishment: SS, and R-Type Final. I am really enjoying labbing in Smash Ultimate (I hate labbng in Street Fighter, though I miss the robust training mode).

My favorite RPG grind was Digimonstory: Cybersleuth - grinding pokemans on my Vita watching something mindless on Netflix.

 

[LOLCats]

Oh its Lineage II then id say Diablo 3, and then maybe Final Fantasy 13.

 

[Superkewl]

Think WoW was the only game where I liked grinding. Whether it was leather, ore, herbs, fish, i just didn't seem to mind.

 

[mekes]

Definitely Capcom vs Snk 2. When I picked that game up I was a fan of fighting games, but rubbish at fighting games. By the time I stopped playing I was pretty good at the game. I don’t know how many hours I played for, but I was really enthusiastic for 6-7 years. I played to improve and learn the match-ups. The execution barrier was tough to break through as a pad player, but by the end I was roll cancelling, custom combo and hit confirming away at will. The only characters I never learned to a good level was King and Dan. I made friends online in 2002 through this game that I’m still great friends with today.

I don’t think I’ll ever play another game as much.

 

[Husky]

Who knows how much time I've sunk into Dragon's Dogma's Bitterblack Isle. I won't stop until I've achieved 100% completion.
Spent plenty of time grinding dragons to dragonforge my equipment as well. Grinded the Everfall for loads of Wakestones.

Anything else? idk. Grind's made me quit games before.

 

[Mecha Meow]

Grinding the elite mobs in Tyr's Hand on my rogue in late 2005 to get gold for epic riding and mounts on that and my shaman.

Took about a week of grinding and about 3 epic and 7-8 blue world drops on top of the high silver/gold drops.

Doing all of the current fishing cheeves for a month before Cata launched was actually fun as well. I hate fishing in MMOs too.

 

[ref]

Something in WoW circa 2009~ sounds right.

 

[ethomaz]

If the gameplay is god send then I can tolerate any grind.

 

[Saber]

Monster Hunter World.

20~30 minutes of monster fighting to a chance to get what you want. Maybe more, depend on what monster you're fighting. Elder Dragons for instance take away huge amounts of time while flying Wyverns may flee the battle randomly.

Investigations might help, but they also can come with drawbacks.

Terrible way of sucking time from the player.

 

[bati]

Path of Exile. Done a few 40/40 challenge leagues, and a few over 30. It's great because a lot of goals require significant time and/or currency investment as the nature of the game is to grease the RNG to be in your favour by various means - prophecy stacking, map specific mods, etc.

 

[Revolutionary]

FFXIV's Eureka. It's more than just A grind, it was several grinds and topped off with a 56-man dungeon with weird (and strict) entrance requirements. Granted, it wasn't the most difficult grind - just incredibly tedious.
Ultimately, it's the only grind I've actually felt proud of because the end reward is an Ozma (from FFIX) mount. Worth.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

Breeding Pokemon in general for perfect stats/shiny.

 

[danielberg]

Diablo 3 getting to +100 greater rift with monk, barb and wizard and "full" paragon points in solo... i enjoyed every minute of it lol

 

[-MD-]

WoW was the king of mindless grinding that was still somehow fun.

 

[Flappe]

anything disgaea for me. Been playing Disgaea 5 for the last couple of weeks, and i dont like grinding much, but in disgaea i dont mind it much =)

 

[Belmonte]

Dragon Quest 1 (Dragon Warrior) on NES.

It was kind of boring in some parts but the game, like every Dragon Quest is very charming and there is a sense of open world which disappeared for decades on the JRPG genre after the NES days. The only thing stopping you from explore the world was your level and equipment. It was an adventure to try to go to that destroyed city and survive enough time to get good loot. Because of the grind to get XP and money you need to think very carefuly what piece of equipment you should buy. Perhaps you should save gold and go to a more advanced city with better items on sale? But can you survive the monsters on the way?

There was a cool feeling of discovering videogame history too since it is one of the most important JRPGs ever.


Earthbound Beginnings

I wished to try this series for a long time but since I prefer to start from the first title when I can, I played the first Mother title. Damn, I love this game. I love so much that I'm giving some time to start the Snes Earthbound to fade my memories a little and not compare them so much. The sadness and the fun in the music and story, the desaturated color pallete, the weird monsters, the main characters and NPCs...love it! But it is very grindy, specially on its final moments. The last area is merciless and will not have much respect for your time.

But, there are enough surprises and great moments to make it worth. And to be frank, I didn't want the game to end too so I didn't mind the grind so much.



Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (SNES)

Yeah, Snes. I know. Perhaps I should have played it on PC but some people I respect said to me this version was faithful enough. Well, this game is incredible and teached me how traditional turn based RPGs can be deep, with lots of spell/health management. The original is one of the most important and influent games ever and I like it a lot.

But the game is hard and IMHO has a flaw: the last levels are so deadly, with enemies which drain levels, instantly kill you or the entire party, no magic zones, teleportations, etc, that the best cost-benefit you get is to kill a monster from the first level lots and lots of times. It is a pity because I wished to face more interesting battles but it is just not worth the risk of getting your party killed.

 

[Rodolink]

-Getting all souls in Castlevanias on the GBA and DS. Moving from one screen to another killing same enemy, repeat.

-farming souls in all souls games, is always repetitive ive never git gud so is the only way I've managed to finish those

-any leveling up in FF and jrpgs becomes such a chore, the same music, the same enemies, walking in circles over and over and over again. Its such a bad mechanic just to increase playtime. Dont know why I keep loving and playing the genre though, its one of my favorites xD

 

[kungfuian]

 

[Shotpun]

Grinding in MMO's or in games in general make my soul leak out of my ass when playing alone, but if you can shoot shit with a friend or two while grinding it can be tolerable or even fun.

Looking at my game catalogue I can't see a single single player game that requires any grinding at all. I guess finishing Mass Effect 1 three times with the same character in order to get max level gets closest. Actually I'm pretty sure I've done that twice so I don't think I hated doing that.

 

[Yoshi]

Now what is this thread about, training to hone your skills to overcome a hurdle in a game or repeating redundant activities to have numbers go up so that you can progress (more easily)? This is pretty relevant to my answer, as these are distinct things.

 

[Starlight Lotice]

Resonance of Fate's level 300 grind.

Tredious but loved it!

 

[klosos]

Runescape i got level 99 Woodcutting on that and got a special emote cape , was it worth it NO , but i did enjoy it tho. Setting yourself a goal then reaching it is always an achievement

 

[Lanrutcon]

Let's see.

Baal runs.
Dustia camping.
<Insert Open World Game Here> collect everything. No exceptions.
<Insert WoW Mount Dungeon/Raid Here> runs.
Ivara and Harrow farming.

 

[Shadowcoust]

Tolerated grind: WoW in vanilla and TBC, for sure. Probably as with most users here. The later focus on PvP by Blizzard really made me go full demonic grind mode.

Not tolerated grind: Any Korean MMO. WoW has nothing on what these Korean MMOs make you do. But for absolutely no reason, other than thats how their devs think games are meant to be.

 

[nkarafo]

Farming materials in WoW

 

[Traianvs]

I love musou games and the grinding is an important part of them but I have fun so it's not something I really have to endure.
A bad grinding I did a few years ago was when, for a very short time on my life, I was an achievements whore on xbox360. There was an achievement in that masterpiece named Dead Rising where you had to kill more than 50.000 zombies in a single game. I spent an entire evening running with a car in an underground parking lot, hitting zombies left and right..... YIKES!!!!

 

[MisterBrimstone]

Ragnarok Online was the last time I accepted a game that was more like a job to play.

 

[The Bloody-Nine]

Dark Souls, exploiting the forest hunters. I did that for hours.

 

[Business]

Recently Niflheim in God of War.

 

[MadAnon]

Lineage 2 by far.

 

[Damien Crowley]

Latest good grind: Racket Fury... VR Table Tennis against robot enemies. The bot at the end of the third tournament split over two game-sessions cost me about 2 and a half hours (of almost real table tennissing!) of defeat-repeat and I called his mother a goddamn toaster and other nasty stuff. But my win was glorious with a 5 point difference in the last set.

Disclaimer: I am NOT a sportive person and only schoolyard-ping-pong-trained!