I've been thinking about this while I switch back and forth playing Elden Ring's DLC and Infinite Wealth.

In Elden Ring my motivation is simply that they are in the way and I want to go through them. The excitement of defeating someone is only strengthened by how many times I didn't before I finally do.

Infinite Wealth, on the other hand, introduces complete assholes you want to beat up and then you get to. Which is just way more cathartic and the build up is always going to be the same for nearly every player, because the bad guy is actually shown doing shit most people hate so you start to actually hate them and want to defeat them.