Trash Mobs: A Rant on an Annoying RPG Trope

[Ketzal]

-snip-

Okay, I get the points that you're making with those examples. Those do sound like nice mechanics that skip over the trash mobs and grinding, but it's still not what I'm getting at here.

If a game has a mechanic that lets you skip fights entirely, that's a pretty good indication that most of the fights you have don't matter besides for leveling purposes. That's my hang-up: I don't want a more streamlined experience, I want a more CHALLENGING experience. I'd like to see a turn-based RPG where most of the fights require strategy and awareness of your opponents' strengths and weaknesses in order to win. I want the fights to matter, and I want the decisions you make outside of "hit attack until everything dies" to have more viability.

And yes, I have played disgaea 1. I really like it, but after beating the main story I was put off by the sheer amount of grinding it takes to take on any of the postgame content.

[primalcaller ergos]

-snip-

Okay, I get the points that you're making with those examples. Those do sound like nice mechanics that skip over the trash mobs and grinding, but it's still not what I'm getting at here.

If a game has a mechanic that lets you skip fights entirely, that's a pretty good indication that most of the fights you have don't matter besides for leveling purposes. That's my hang-up: I don't want a more streamlined experience, I want a more CHALLENGING experience. I'd like to see a turn-based RPG where most of the fights require strategy and awareness of your opponents' strengths and weaknesses in order to win. I want the fights to matter, and I want the decisions you make outside of "hit attack until everything dies" to have more viability.

And yes, I have played disgaea 1. I really like it, but after beating the main story I was put off by the sheer amount of grinding it takes to take on any of the postgame content.

That is very true, and is actually something I agree with up to a point. (I don't mind grinding too much, doubly so if there is good enemy variety)

In that case you could try Shin Megami Tensei or it's spin off persona. I've never played any of them, but I hear that they have what you said.
In the original, you can catch monsters like pokemon, but the amount of XP they get at any given time is absurdly small and thus pointless.
Instead if you want to progress, you have to either merge two of your current monsters together into a stronger one, or just catch stronger new ones.

If you want an RPG where every foe is different, try one of the games in the mario and luigi rpg series.
These games have a unique set of action commands for every single foe in the entire game that are required to use for dodging enemy attacks or performing devastating combos.
This makes every type of foe you encounter feel completely unique, because you have to closely observe the enemy's movements and attack patterns, then adjust your button presses accordingly.
If you are successful, you can win a tough boss fight without getting hit even once or even kill a boss in one turn with an infinity combo.

As a bonus, being made by nintendo means you can get these for the DS, meaning some of the combos require useage of both screens,
or the touch screen, and the newer games even use the 3DS's gyroscope controls. (don't worry, they're not nearly as annoying to use as it sounds)

This is a great way to add new interactivity to a genre that is usually about picking an option from a list then watching a character perform said action automatically.