>>4130295
Grinding is largely not required in the majority of games.
However, the ability to do so persists both just as a function of gameplay mechanisms (if you can get a resource from doing a task and there are repeatable tasks (for example - fighting monsters) - grinding exists) but also as an accessibility route for both children and stupid people to still experience the rest of the game that they bought instead of just being stopped 20% at a hard challenge and then not experiencing 80% of the game.
It allows for the payment of time instead of skill - that's the key understanding to be had
Of course, with the proliferation of accessible guides and walkthroughs - many people have completely left the traditional experience of playing RPGs - and abandoned investing time or skill in place of using another's to expedite their own consumption of more content

So long as there's always something you can do at a given level that keeps you progressing it's fine. If the game requires me to wander around killing slimes because I hit a content wall that I can't breach without leveling up or some shit I'm probably not going to like it.
In my experience, most times I had to do that were the result of being a retarded kid that barely paid attention to a game's systems though