I mean... all grinds are repetitive just by nature, but OG ARR Relic had two trials specifically made for it. Hydra and Chimera in Coerthas, then you had to defeat the 3 HM Primals. It wasn't until ATMA and Animus that it got legit horrible. The Alexandrite step also was kinda fun imho, and I never minded Light Farming too much. Going to Zodiac had the caveat of costing at least 400K, and then getting the crafted items was a bit weird, but it felt like an interesting step, if a bit flawed. The whole quest felt like it had distinct interesting steps that made you engage with a bunch of different parts of the game, which I think is the big difference.
For Manderville: we don't have unique trials for them, we don't have a unique exploratory zone with Lost Actions and unique small boss fights (Critical Engagements) with its own story and leveling system, we're not required to engage with the open world or any other part of the game. All we can do is EW dungeons/trails. There's just no personality or a real journey to take... it feels very mechanical instead.
Wanting personality and a journey to take doesn't mean we have to do ATMAs or Animus Books again. There's plenty of interesting ways to make a grind more interesting.
