Level Grinding

Yesterday, I beat Final Fantasy III (NDS). My time stamp reads 80:16:16. That's 80 hours, 16 minutes, and 16 seconds. I'd bet money that 30 of those hours were spent grinding.  All four of my Heroes of Light are at a character level of 99 and possess a Onion Knight job level of 99. This was accomplished by going into the Crystal Tower at the end of the game and fighting Bluks and Kum Kums for the character level and guarding against weak enemies outside of Ur.


After beating the game, I had to ask myself if the grinding was worth the time that I put into it. I spent 30+ hours of my play time doing something that gained me nothing outside of no having to heal a single time during the final battles of the game. Had I have just gone into the final trials at the level that I was at when I reached that plot point, the road would have been long and difficult, but not 30 hours long. And now that the game has been completed, there is nothing left for me to do with my near invincible party.

So, was the grinding really worth all of that trouble? I certainly did not enjoy the grinding process. In fact, I dind't even pay attention to what my on screen avatars were doing. I did the majority of my grinding while sitting at a plasma donation center watching DVDs of House M.D., tapping attack or guard on the NDS touch screen as the situation dictated.

My answer, for Final Fantasy III, is no, it was not worth all of that effort. Yes, the final boss was super easy thanks to my deity-like strength. But the ending left much to be desired. If I would have just gone and beat the game the moment I had the opportunity, I would have been challenged much more than I was, and, consequently, I would have enjoyed the battle much more. I also probably would not have been so disappointed in the ending. Instead, I felt like the reward for all of my hard work was a big let down.

This doesn't mean that grinding is a bad thing in every game. In Poke'mon, the entire point of the game is to become the best, which basically means that the entire point of the game is to grind. In Final Fantasy VII, grinding at the Golden Saucer's Battle Arena will reward you with Cloud's best limit break, Omnislash. Grinding in a multiplayer game such as World of Warcraft can be fun when done with friends.

Grinding definitely has it's place. It's important for developers and gamers alike to find when and where it is and it is not welcome. I took all the fun out of and essentially broke the end of Final Fantasy III by grinding, a game I was thoroughly enjoying before I started this bad idea. By the time I reached my goal of being that powerful, I just wanted the game to end. Weigh the pros and cons of this repetitive behavior before you jump into a grinding spell and do the same to many of your favorite games.