Why am I not enjoying Earthbound?

I bought Earthbound recently, and I'm currently in the town of Twoson. I am honestly VERY underwhelmed considering the things I've heard about this game. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE 16-bit graphics, the games humor, and the concept of the game in general. That said, there are some things that bug me. I like how there are no random attacks in the game, but with the way the enemies run a lightning speed towards you, it might as well be randomly generated. I hate how whenever I die, I spawn back at my house, and I have to trek all the way back to my previous location. I also LOATHE the unreliable "flee" function. I swear, I will use "flee" 4 times, if that before it works. Even then, I might as well have died because by that time I only have 14 HP left! Also, the battle system i Really boring. It gets especially bad when I have to grind. So, my question is, does the game get better? Am I not taking the precautions to get the most out of my experience? I really don't know what I could be doing wrong. I talk to everyone I meet, I explore little nooks and crannies, etc. What am I missing? Or, what am I doing wrong?

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