@MidOH There tends to be two schools of thought amongst the tire shoppers.
On one hand, you've got the "tried and true" group that prefers old brands and old products that have been improved gradually over the years, and have been in the game for a long time.
On the other hand, brands recent to the scene can copy the experience of these older brands and products without having to play the trial and error game, and can more easily produce a product with competitive construction and performance without the expense, or the "legendary brand" pricing.
After making this initial decision, the issue then becomes whether you want to crapshoot with a new product, or use what you know; some times people become hard-set on a mediocre product (KO2, much?) because it's "good enough" or it "hasn't failed them", and miss out on the good stuff because of their unwillingness to change.
Understandable that you wouldn't want to risk disappointment, when it's $1500 for a good set of tires, but as you've said, at least see what's on the market before you buy some old, outdated design that isn't necessarily delivering the performance that could be had from a more modern application of science.
Personally, I avoided Kenda just because they're an unfamiliar product in my region, and the tread patterns didn't suit my requirements. I've never heard a bad review about 'em even once.
Meanwhile, when Nitto is cranking out Trail Grapplers for $350 each but Kenda's KR629 is $400 each, I'd be slightly more inclined toward the Nittos just for the price. Regionally, of course, the Kendas might be a lot cheaper for some buyers.
The Nittos have a slightly tamer tread pattern and slightly tamer side walls (comparing two extreme mud tires), and advertises itself as intentionally road-friendly and quiet (uhhh, not really either) whereas the Kenda's extremely aggressive shoulders and side walls scream that it's really not meant for road use. Between the two, it probably doesn't make all that much difference which you'd end up with, but personally I like how the Nitto's design has the shoulder combining the sidewall and the main tread patterns into one big, fat piece of rubber, while the Kenda has a thin seam separating the two treads. This might be insignificant in some use cases, or it could be the whole game. The RT you mentioned combines both treads at the shoulder as well, but has a significantly different tread pattern than these two I've compared.
It's nice to have options, and it's unwise to neglect alternatives when selecting the only part of the car that's supposed to touch the ground.
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