I’d say no, but most recent games I’ve played don’t always do the balance thing right. Yes, there has to be some achievement, a little struggle here and there, but there seems to be a lot of grind…even on some platformers.

One game in the last decade or so that got it right was “Medievil” for the PSX. It was sort of a 3-d platformer, but I can’t remember thinking it dull at any point.

One game that got it wrong (but I still recommend anyway) was Castlevania SOTN. “Oh, good. You got this far. Now do all the same levels upside down.”

But here I am 21 years later, and I still haven’t finished Wasteland. A lot closer, though.

Often.

Brilliant!

actually, no, they aren’t.

but seriously, what need to be done is balance playability with storyline with enough cut-scenes to make the game experience a lot better.

a good example of a good game with almost everything well balanced is Psychonauts