Games that I put in this category: The first spyro game (not sure about the later ones, havent played) and A Link Between Worlds are both very fun and rewarding to complete and never feel like a chore to do so.
One game that is very much NOT in this category, as is often said, is DK64 lol. But everyone says that. I've also heard people say Super Mario Oddessy is fun to beat but not fun to complete, same with BOTW because of the Koroks. People usually say this about SM Sunshine as well but I dont really mind it in this game.
Sidenote complain about the world: Sandbox games combined with my autistic obsessive compulsive need for completionism lead to me playing them with very frusterating habits lmao. No Man's Sky is the worst for me. I LOVE that game but god the respawning ROCKS ruin the experiance kind of. If the rocks stayed gone, I could use them to gradually explore the worlds I'm on in a completiony way. (Even knowing that like even a single planet is kind of impossible to fully explore let alone the entire fucking universe lol). But I cant!!!!!!
Sorry I need to shove that rant into everything. Completionist mindset also limits me with games like Terraria, Minecraft, and Starbound as well but not as badly because I at least can keep track of exploration in those (Or just dig deep pits in minecraft as I enjoy doing to waste time while I watch streams lol).
I also get myself caught in absurd goals that NOONE expects you to do and the game doesnt keep track of (no achievemnt for it or anything) sometimes like doing all coin runs in Mario 64 or marrying, seeing the 14 star event, and then divorcing every spouse in Stardew Valley lol. (I acutally havent started the second thing but it is sort of in my head as a goal).
This turned into a general rant about how my completionism effects me lmao but anyway thoughts.
If you liked A Link Between Worlds then Zelda: Majora’s Mask would be a good pick I’d say. Fantastic game with excellent atmosphere that still holds up today, and it is heavily weighted towards side quests and stuff in the overworld rather than dungeons like other Zelda games. The game runs on a time based system so each character has a unique schedule, and while it is not necessary completing every character’s side stories is very rewarding.
Second pick since you liked Spyro would be A Hat in Time. It’s a level based 3D platformer with adorable characters and cell shaded graphics. It’s pretty short and not overly stuffed with collectibles. I think its maybe the only game I have ever gotten 100% achievements on because it’s so cute and fun to play, while not suffering from issues say DK64 has of having just too much stuff to collect.
When I played Majora's Mask as a kid, my slow ploding exploration style in games made the 3 day system difficult for me, but I think I could handle it today so I might set up an attempt to replay it soon. Im decently familiar with the Mask related sidequests because of PBG's collection series of those, but the dungeons are still mostly a mystery to me!
I've definitly been meaning to play A Hat in Time and the fact that its fun to 100% is good to know.
Totally get what you mean I struggled with it as a kid for the same reason. I never even played it properly until it came out on the Wii virtual console. I'd say its the type of game that is totally worth playing with a walkthrough just so you don't miss stuff, which also makes the time aspect pretty trivial. Not sure what your stance is on playing games with guides but I like it for the sort of game where it is easy to miss stuff, but I'm also not the sort that likes to replay games typically.
Cannot recommend A Hat in Time enough for any 3D platformer or overall cute game fans its just fantastic. Probably the only kickstarter sorta thing I have paid for and been super happy with.
Hat in Time has a dedicated button for the player character to blow you a smooch how could anyone hate it.