I don't understand your comment on multiple levels. First, I didn't say there wasn't grinding, my points were: 1) The mechanics of the game wasn't the problem, it was the implementation of them. 2) Grinding has never doomed a game. It may be annoying, but many popular games -- including ALL RPGs -- feature grinding at their core.

Second, with respect to E.T., if you're spending your time eating Reese's Pieces, you're doing it wrong. The candy has nothing to do with completing the game. Furthermore, the game can be completed without going out of your way to collect these at all.

Third, eating RPs isn't not grinding. Grinding is when the game effectively pauses because the player can't advance past some point because the player is underpowered for the new enemies, and overpowered when compared to the old enemies. It's a balance issue, that gets passed off as "fun". See Pokemon. See Final Fantasy. See every RPG ever made.

Repetitive game mechanics doesn't doom games. Every party based RPG since Bard's Tale has features the same Fight-Fight-Fight-Parry-Parry-Parry verb. 90% of all attack turns in these games comes down to that same attack plan. Hell, these games even configure their controls so that this is accomplished by just hitting the default button six times in a row. And yet, these games are beloved by millions.