Everyone grinds when they play through an RPG — it's just part of the experience and, for some, part of the appeal. Every player fears running into that one difficult battle that has them grinding their teeth and mashing buttons for hours on end as they continuously die and lose more of their progress. It's a common nightmare, but there's no better way to avoid it than leveling up one's team, party, or characters. This way, they'll be equipped to take on the most difficult of battles with ease.

That action is what players refer to as "grinding," and while it's welcomed in some RPGs, it's frowned upon in others. Some games are programmed to punish or not reward the player for grinding, which makes for an unwelcome surprise to those who are first-time players of certain RPGs.

6 Paper Mario 3DS

Grinding in Mario games generally means playing the same few levels over and over again to farm extra lives and gain power-ups that players can potentially keep into the next map they traverse. In Paper Mario 3DS, players are rewarded with stickers after defeating enemies in battle. These stickers are one of the few things to come out of grinding against and defeating the same common enemies.

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Players can use those stickers they've earned in battle to get coins, which buy more stickers. This action can put players and their party ahead, but just barely. They might be better off simply progressing than grinding for stickers and coins. Though the game doesn't directly punish grinding, it does make grinding a poor use of the player's time.

5 Chrono Cross

Chrono Cross is a wonderful example of a game that doesn't necessarily reward the player when it comes to grinding. Players can't earn EXP outside of winning boss battles, which makes grinding against common enemies entirely useless.

That said, the game does reward players with elements and weapon materials when they defeat enemies, which is useful when it comes to progressing and completing the game. Still, there isn't any real point to grinding except to farm and collect certain elements towards the end of the game.

4 Phantasy Star IV

Phantasy Star IV incorporates an anti-grinding mechanic that most players wouldn't even notice, had they played through the game without ever grinding for levels or EXP. The mechanic wasn't intentional, and it requires players to get close to a ridiculously high stat level to even notice in the first place.

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The stats of the player's party members will actually decrease the closer they get to 99. This actively discourages players to keep going in their pursuit to level up their character's stats. That said, there is no reason for a player to level up their character's stats that high. They would be unreasonably powerful against even the strongest bosses in the game.

3 Elder Scrolls

Throughout the Elder Scrolls games, players are given the option to raise the levels of certain skills when they level up through gaining EXP. Players can distribute these raised skills as they please, making them more gifted in areas like stamina or health.

That said, although the game doesn't exactly punish players for grinding up levels in order to distribute points to certain skills, things can get hairy if players choose to raise the wrong skills on their character. All that said, Elder Scrolls isn't particularly brutal about this. In the worst-case scenario players will be able to strategize out a solution for their character's poor skill set.

2 Monster Rancher Advance

This is a feature exclusive to the first GameBoy Advance Monster Rancher title,Monster Rancher Advance. A specific mechanic in this game makes the lives of players who grind to high stats increasingly difficult when it comes to completing battles.

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If the stats of the player's monsters become too high, the in-game AI will begin cheating more in response. This means that the closer the player's stats get to 999, there's a much higher chance that the AI will dodge attacks in response. If there's anything that makes the blood of an RPG player boil, it's when enemies consistently dodge attacks. However, Monster Rancher Advance is fairly merciful when it comes to its mechanic of punishing players for grinding.

1 Undertale

Perhaps one of the most infamous games that will punish players for grinding and killing monsters for EXP is the popular indie RPG Undertale. One of the first things any new player will be told, upon going into this game blind, is to not kill any of the monsters, or anyone they meet. When players don't heed this warning, they're in for an emotional punch to the stomach.

Undertale punishes players heavily for getting EXP, but from a story standpoint rather than a gameplay one. There are multiple endings and routes players can take depending on which characters they kill, which ones they don't, and how they treat the friendly, yet sometimes fearsome, monsters who they'll meet along the way. To any and all new players of Undertale: sometimes, it takes more strength to show mercy.

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