Opinions on symmetry vs asymmetry in PC vs NPC rules?

So I recently got into a discussion with a friend over how different systems handle NPC creation. He's a big D&D 3.5e fan and talked about how it was cool that NPCs and PCs used a lot of the same rules, which was kinda odd for me to hear because that's one of my number one turn offs to a system. Personally when I'm GMing having to play any sort of character creation minigame to generate a statblock I'm going to use once or twice is exhausting.

But I want to hear what people think. What are the benefits to symmetrical PC and NPC creation, and do y'all think they outweigh the drawbacks?