I often decide to skip enemy battles. In several games, I was going in defeating everything, then I realized, I was getting no benefit from it, so why bother? In some ways, this isn’t good because why put enemies in a level if people will just bypass all of them? But, I also hate forced battles. “Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One” did this. The game was only challenging because of all these long, boring battles they forced you to complete. Sure, it’s hard all right, but not fun.

I think battles shouldn’t be forced, but you should get some reward for it. “Illusion of Gaia” doesn’t force you to fight, but if you defeat every enemy in a room, you get an upgrade to your stats. You didn’t have to, but it was worth it because it would make you stronger. RPG’s do a good job with this, too. You actually want to sit through battle after battle because your characters become more powerful, and the battles get easier.