RPGs are not for everyone. Naysayers of the genre often decry the reliance on grinding to get past certain bosses or dungeons. While many Western RPGs manage to avoid this problem, it is almost always a feature in many classic JRPGs.
The games below which come from both the West and the East all manage to avoid grinding. Either they balance the game well enough to make grinding unnecessary or the progression system makes it simply impossible to do so. Hopefully, those who ignore the genre will find something they like here if they have not already played them.
10 Elder Scrolls Franchise
The Elder Scrolls franchise is one of the most iconic Western RPG franchises of all time. All the entries can occupy your time for literally hundreds of hours. Thanks to the enemy’s difficulty scaling to your level, none of this time is spent grinding. If you want something more challenging you can still adjust the difficulty level in the menus, which in turn levels up your character faster. Everyone has their personal favorite Elder Scrolls game, but Skyrim is the most popular and easiest to play.
9 Final Fantasy 10
Final Fantasy 10 changes some things about the franchise’s formula. Mainly, most of the game is more linear and traditional leveling up is replaced by the Sphere Grid. While you can run around an area and engage in fights, you can easily get through the game without doing so. As long as you understand the systems, Final Fantasy 10 is not hard to beat without grinding. Doing the endgame side quests will take more time and repetition, however.
8 Mass Effect
BioWare’s classic science fiction epic brought the company real mainstream attention. The combat in Mass Effect manages to feel engaging and interesting without going into the deeper RPG mechanics.
You can also get through the game without ever having to grind. Even if you end up under leveled, skill can help get passed without the monotony of grinding. It is a good thing too, because Mass Effect’s main appeal is the narrative, characters, and world.
7 XCOM
This turn-based tactical RPG is notable for its difficulty. It is also possible to actually lose the game if your playthrough is poor enough. Because of this, the game gives you no downtime to simply grind. You are constantly encouraged to keep pushing forward and develop your base and troops as the narrative continues. The game is more about balancing resources than simply accumulating experience points.
6 Kingdom Hearts
For the most part, most of the Kingdom Hearts games can be conquered without grinding. The first entry in particular is a relatively short RPG. Even on the harder difficulties grinding is not necessary if you are a skilled player. Hard bosses are made easier by leveling up, but understanding the best tactics and strategies goes a long way towards making battles more manageable. Even though the story is famous for how hard it is to understand, the gameplay in the mainline entries is always top-notch.
5 Valkyria Chronicles
This cult classic stands out for its unique gameplay and setting. It mixes real-time elements with tactical RPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together. Every battle does a good job of pushing the story forward and smaller side quests help beef up your troops without having to repeat them to become over-leveled. Even with this linear path, Valkyria Chronicles takes a solid 30 hours or so to complete.
4 Chrono Cross
This applies to Chrono Trigger as well, but Chrono Cross takes the cake because its unique leveling-up system makes grinding nearly impossible. Even though Chrono Trigger is the SNES classic everybody talks about, many RPG aficionados consider Chrono Cross one of the best RPGs for the PS1. It also features a massive roster of over 40 potential party members. It does not seem like it is directly connected to Chrono Trigger at first, but later on the ties between the two become clearer.
3 Fallout 3
When the Fallout series fell into Bethesda’s hands, the company made them first-person games like the Elder Scrolls series.
Even though enemies do not scale to your level in a similar way, equipment and weapons are more important to successful combat than having a high level. In Fallout 3 the level cap is particularly low and reached easily, so you have to depend on resources more than levels anyway.
2 Xenosaga
Xenosaga was made by Monolith Software, who went on the make the Xenoblade Chronicles franchise. The PS2 RPG is not nearly as open as the future series, however. As such, you never really have an opportunity to grind. It also is just never really necessary. The trilogy is narrative-heavy with some long cutscenes. The prior game from Tetsuya Takahashi, Xenogears for the PS1, similarly requires little grinding and is more focused on story than gameplay.
1 The Witcher 3
The newest game on the list is already a classic. Even though the narrative is extremely important and changes based on your decisions in The Witcher 3, the gameplay and combat are also deep. Interestingly enough, you can only do so many side quests before they stop giving notable experience. You couldn’t really grind even if you wanted to. All the same, doing all the optional missions would be more satisfying for the narrative than for the experience points.
