Progression and tech trees are my favorite parts of rpg games.

Oh I like those very much too. They serve as a reward for playing the core game and unlock further choices and complexity so your skills and particular playstyle can expand.

Good incremental games distill that part to a fine, highly concentrated progression liquor.

Uh, no I would argue that they boil away everything interesting – narrative, gameplay, choices, skill, problem solving – and what’s left is naught but the kind of task 1960’s neuroscientists would set for rats with electrodes implanted in their crania. How is that appealing whatsoever?