Yeah, Black Flag’s seafaring was fun. It was enjoyable to guide your ship around, explore the random tiny unnamed islets, dive into the ocean and hear the crew laugh about the captain jumping overboard.

Yes, collecting every last thing was a grind. But it was a fun grind. It felt like I was choosing to do all that, even though the game was psychologically goading me into it.

(Insert philosophical discussion about free will related to a video game about genetic memory and following predicted behavior.)