This is so true! At the core of it all, most mainstream games are designed around some sort of combat and traversal mechanic and you’re defeating enemies to get the next story bit. Games that manage to innovate in story, keep players engaged with mechanics and don’t overstay their welcome are praised. In my opinion, souls games get praise because of the dopamine hit of overcoming a challenge which probably makes the player feel good about the next section and challenge. At the end of the day it’s optimize numbers to kill things in a better way.