I'm kind of amazed that in all the talk about the 'revolutionary' idea of fast-forwarding combat; no one seems to have mentioned Gust already implemented and perfected this idea in Mana Khemia.
For those who haven't played it:
Basically enemies show up on the field and it's ye basic 'touch and fight' system. However unlike similar games such as Persona 3/4 and XIII-2; the enemies are color-coded relative to how strong they are vs your party level. Once they reach a certain color, all you have to do is strike the first and they poof on the battle screen without even having to go into the combat sequence.
Aka: Fast-forwarding/skipping the pointless combats while keeping the challenging ones.
Earthbound did it first.
Also this is why I only play things like Eternal Ring and Disaster Report. I never have to feel bad about being associated with the fanbase because there is none.