The numbers go up. The weight that Sam Porter Bridges can carry on his back and shoulders increases, kilogram by kilogram. The distance between waystations grows metres apart as you inch from prepper to prepper. You get likes. You get more likes. A friendly porter gives you 1 like(s) which increases your total likes by 0.003%. you come home from your real life job, which probably involves walking, climbing or carrying (mine does anyway) and you login to the chiral network and receive thousands of likes. What do the likes do? You don't know. But the numbers keep going up. More ammo, more power, more speed, more resources, more roads, more ziplines.

The Earth however does not go up. Elevation-wise, yes it goes up and what goes up must come down. But the rocks, the streams, the snow, the ravines, the shores don't have numbers to increase or decrease. You don't roll dice at rubble. It is you and the Earth, mano a mano, every step an attack and every hill a combo. You get to the top of a mountain, turn around and take a photo. You have been climbing for 20 minutes. Just pushing the left stick forward, and yet you feel that you may be conquering one of the hardest encounters JRPGs have to offer.