A lot of folks just wanna spam combos all day in training mode. Since this game's combo system is more restrictive than the other titles, they naturally think it's "trash."
Exactly, and to be fair to each on their own.
You can easily see that with for example SUPER and Maximilian.
They almost jerk off when they land a big flashy combo.
(When I just think about MK9/X Cyrax with 5 minute combos, I am really not "enjoying" this as an opponent ... I want to play not watch a "combo movie the game", you know ...)
But then we have a game like KOF, and they don't stick to it as this is now starting to be TOO hard.
I am honestly sure that KOF's high execution barrier keeps many away even tho you get so much combo freedom. The flip side, learn those real just frames ... and now most people leave ...
(unspoken fact, most people just don't want to acknowledge that)
Edit: I think KOF is totally designed to be played on stick, so all pad players are already with a huge "handicap". But the arcade times are long gone, no one has told SNK this tho, so don't ask yourself why your game will always be "niche", it's too hard for the "big audience" ...
Just my observation, and don't get me wrong, Tekken7 to me has the best gameplay.
(even tho I play lately almost only MK11, it looks so fantastic and KL for me is way more motivation than ranked in Tekken7 with way more flaws to point out. (just one example: ranks are saved locally? Already to me a "false" ranked mode ...))
I had so much fun with MK2 back in the day (a really special game to me) but for today's standards, I could easily see how this game gets boring fast.