On the discussion of random battles and grinding.
I never really grew up playing RPG's, so my tolerance for random battles is pretty much zero. I've gone back and played Chronotrigger and Secret of Mana, both of which I really enjoyed. I think Jonny's right though, the psychological impact of even having the illusion that you can avoid battles, if you're fast or nimble enough, is huge.
As I enjoyed those two games so much, I thought that I might enjoy other 16 bit RPGs. When I played Phantasy Star IV on VC though I realised that I absolutely could not truck with random battles. I also played though Final Fantasy 6, and while I definitely prefer FFVI to PSIV, I was still driven mad by the random battles.
I think you must just need to build up that tolerance as a kid, because my patience for that sort of thing is non-existent.
On a side note, I think Bit.Trip Runner, Meat Boy, and Hotline Miami have set my expectations pretty high as far as just letting me play the game is concerned. By which I mean, those games have destroyed any patience I had for games with fail screens, which then take 30 sceonds or more to reload the level, and in some instances even force you to button mash your way through text and tutorials that you've seen multiple times (I'm looking at you Fluidity: Spin Cycle).
On side side note, I finally got all the puzzle pieces and 5 stars in Spin Cycle. That game was aweseome (I just wish they had included an option to skip all the text once you had already gone through a level).