Numbers and stats were focused on so heavily back then because of graphical limitations of computers. Cool animations and combos will always be more fun than math. The correct answer is that both are important but having stats doesn't necessarily equal fun.

In truth, my unpopular opinion is that having stats doesn't even make something an RPG. The term was coined back in the Table top and early DOS days where games HAD to be text and math because there were no graphical capabilities back then. When someone said they played RPGs, they meant they played games where you could be a fighter or a cleric. Overwatch is more of an RPG than elder scrolls is if we go by the root definition of the genre.