It's not just that Nintendo isn't letting enemies get personalities, it's that the post-Super games seem dead set on having Mario be the only playable character, with the result that Mario and the current mascot are the only ones that stick around for the whole game. The character work for the parties in the first two games wasn't deep, but Mario is a silent protagonist, so he's not really going to carry the story on his own, and the mascots haven't been up for the task, either.
Sticker Star's combat system was generally disliked. It did, technically, allow a wide variety of attacks and abilities, but in an awkward fashion. It also did a thing where combat didn't really give you any permanent advantages, but grinding was still required because the stronger stickers were dropped by enemies. As such, it also encouraged a hoarder mentality even worse than most RPGs.
Which makes it rather obnoxious that the sticker system has stuck around so long. The more tedious bits have been filed down as time goes by, but it's still present, even when it doesn't really fit with the rest of the combat system.
Origami King does actually have a clever combat system, albeit the clever bits aren't the sticker system bits. The way that you twist and move the enemy wheel to line them up is pretty fun, and it seemed like it was designed so that it was possible to beat any group of enemies in a single round. At least in theory. The wheel mazes used for the bosses are at least interesting, although some layouts can be frustrating.