>>11928115 (OP)
Challenge being the entire point of video games did start to die in the mid 90's when 3D started to become a norm, and there are two main reasons for that. First, the advant of the CD format which meant more storage space for games to become more movie-like. Secondly, 3D controls. It has been largely forgotten now because everyone has gotten used to it and it's the norm, but it took a while for players to get used to 3D controls, just moving around was often the challenge in itself (Tomb Raider), and 3D controls weren't normalized yet so everyone did it differently. You can't have challenge when nobody has mastered controls yet.