Yes, they mix up the character/party development systems every entry, I don't think anyone would dispute that. But somehow this got transmuted into the idea that they had to completely change how the battles work every game. Which didn't really have any precedent, and IMO significantly slows down the turn around time of each entry for exceedingly little return.

(Well, from my point of view it is a negative return because they by and large produce systems that aren't as good as ATB or Turn Based to begin with.)