For me, I'd have to say Old School X-COM (UFO Defense, TFTD, X-COM Apocalypse to an extent). I love them in a way that I just do not enjoy NewCOM, but the interface was quite possibly based on the recovered works of a 13th century scribe, and is very difficult to get used to for an unfamiliar player.
Exactly! The reason it's so common in RPGs is as essentially a filler to keep it from being a VN, and to control pacing. The real draw for a lot of those games is meant to be story/setting/characters and the combat is fine as long as it's just kinda ok.