Hah! I haven't played dao since it came out but at the time it had just been so long since I had had a battle map and aoes and a party to position on said map that I remember it being fairly interesting. I'm replaying BG 1 right now and I had forgotten how little positioning really mattered -- I can just charge my guys wherever!

Such questions are ALWAYS subjective.

To some folks any combat system thats not first-person-shooter where player skills and reflexes are paramont sux.

To others a turn-based combat system with zero player control over the mechanics (other then selecting what to do on a given turn) is the best system ever invented.