I mean, we all love VI, but it’s definitely not because of its battles or character development systems. Other games in the series have done a much better job at it
"Gameplay" incorporates much more than those things. Talking to NPCs is gameplay. Exploring towns is gameplay. Exploring dungeons is gameplay. Final Fantasy 6 actually has really good gameplay!
Well, I can only speak for myself when I say I think FFXII still does all of those better than FFVI, along with a plethora of other RPGs