>>715048149 (OP)I dont think people find it engaging, its just that people are used to it and don't know any better.
You'd be surprised how many JRPG fans refuse to try anything new, they stick to the same genre and to them thats the ceiling for quality.
Not only is the combat bland, its also easy, boring and very restrictive, its not strategic or tactical, its not satisfying to learn and master because its shallow.
It just exists to pad out the visual novel segments because lets face it, this genre is all about the story and the combat is one excuse to pad out the time between each cutscene or rather dialogue boxes.
Also the encounter design is horrendous, its full of cookie cutter and repetitive enemies that do the same thing and are defeated using the same method. and there is a lot of them, its full of filler, its really really mediocre at best and downright shit at worst.
Just dismiss anyone who fanboys for this system. dismissed and ignored and disrespected, opinions thrown in the garbage. always. and yes that include SMT, overrated shit series as well.