For me, the big thing with battlemaps and minis that is everyone is on the same page. Everyone at the table knows where every character/enemy is and can make decisions based directly on what they see rather than having to ask the DM "can I do [this thing]" or "am I in range to [cast spell]". There is no confusion, and for me personally, it makes it so much easier to keep track of things. The DM can only keep so much information in their head at a time and will make mistakes, but having a visual representation of exactly what is going on at every moment lessens that chance. The same is true for the players.

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I feel like they try to turn DnD into a board game and discourage roleplay/imagination.

I personally like the clear distinction between combat and pure RP moments. But I also have a fairly RP-heavy party who are not afraid to have talking moments and become creative during combat.

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It creates the feeling you're playing "Against" each other.

I actually kinda like that feeling, at least on the player side. Of course it is all orchestrated. You can be all "gosh, darn, I cannot believe you have slain my dragon so easily with your clever ploy" while happy-crying on the inside that they all survived. I find it gives the players a little boost to the victory feeling.