Definitely JRPG but instead of being completely menu based, they let you move to select your targets which is neat...but still JRPG.
My problem with JRPG is that setting doesn't mean anything in terms of combat. Think Jagged Alliance: a defending unit might be behind a wall so odds of hit are low and if a hit occurs, it will be weak because the bullet had to go through material to hit the defending unit. An attacking unit can be buffed, for example, if they're prone with a sniper with a bipod on it. Not only that, being prone means they're a really tiny cross section so they're unlikely to get hit but if they do get it, it will be bad. And if that weren't enough, add in the fact that this prone sniper is 200m away from the enemy whom has a rifle with an effective range of 70m; the prone sniper has huge attack capabilities and huge defense capabilities but balanced out by having low movement capabilities (take a lot of action points to turn, get up, and prep their gun to run. By removing setting (as all JRPGs do), none of these important figures are accounted for. There's very little in terms of strategy so it fundamentally becomes worshiping RNGesus. You can't use logic to stack the deck in your favor.
Jagged Alliance is probably the best example simply because their systems allow for so much variety. The more common type is that seen in Shadowrun, Wasteland, XCOM, and Xenonauts:
1) use cover (and deny your enemy cover by flanking or explosives)
2) stack your units in preparation to storm a room
3) use the turn counter so once you make your move, you have plenty of availble units with turns to inflict serious pain before the enemy can respond
4) take the high ground so you can see what they're doing before they know where you are
5) study enemy types and patterns (e.g. typical groups). For example, those reptilian infiltrators in XCOM like to land on high points on a map and overwatch. Having a sniper up high with the ability to attack targets in another friendly units line of sight can translate to quickly wiping them out when they don't have a chance to respond. They're also weakly armored and not very evasive so even a heavy with two shots can take out two visible infiltrators by itself.
All of these things can stack the deck in your favor before a shot is even fired. JRPGs distinctly lack these things. Because of their reliance on RNGesus, they're more like gambling and grinding (because literally the only way to stack the deck in your favor is to be leveled higher) games than actual strategy games.
I saw many of my family members playing a "game" where they rolled 10 six-sided dice over and over and over again until all came up the same number. How is this fun to anyone? It's fundamentally what JRPG combat is. The dice are just hidden. Yeah, sure, some might try to complicate things with defense types and attack styles but fundamentally all that does is add a spreadsheet to your dice rolls. Every gamer needs more Excel in their life...said no one...ever. EVE Online addicts don't count because they're obsessive to an unhealthy degree.
TL;DR: JRPGs made sense in the 80s and early 90s simply because of technological limitations. Today? No, just no.
Dunno man.. JRPGs aren't unique in this. Consider any ARPG, they basically do the same thing, up to and including RNG loot tables, map generation, monster suffixes. Whether I play Grim Dawn, Diablo, it all just means you're walking past some scenery slaying monsters, setting is just atmosphere. Yes you can move about but its a very minor factor in the whole thing, its mostly a vehicle to go from one monster pack to another and the whole point is getting strong enough to
not be forced to move and dodge everything. Spreadsheets in gaming are bread and butter, even paper D&D has it, even combined with RNG, except now you roll a D20 (with a ton of modifiers, I admit).
Comparing Wasteland or Shadowrun to a JRPG... those are mostly turn based tactical games with a hint of RPG in them along a rather fixed progression path. But the emphasis is clearly on the tactical aspect. You can bring shitty gear and still win with good positioning and tactics, mostly. RPG elements are everywhere in gaming. And so are spreadsheets. The strength of the JRPG is its presentation along with the typical style, plus repetitive, grindy nature of combat and lengthy progression curve. But, within that grind there do tend to be lots of little gameplay/mechanic surprises, or combinations of monster spawns that will really challenge you, or straight up weirdness galore.
RNG can be great if its done right. I'm replaying Diablo 2 atm, and I think its a good example, and a good reminder of what makes a game strong even when its so very simple. In this game, even the different map layouts, the way they're generated, each offer different tactical options. Using walls or corridors, open space, escape routes, etc. It really struck me when I entered the Sewers in Act 3. Its a random map, but you can still take away knowledge because it always generates long paths along the edges of it and a maze of bridges and dead ends in the center. Go through the middle and you're stuck going in circles for a half hour. Go along the edge and you're done in five minutes.
I'm not seeing your point as far as technological limitations go. Old games were never burdened much by it and neither are new ones. Old games turned some limitations into actual gameplay elements, too, simply because that was the scope they were built on. JRPG is just a specific type of game with an emphasis you may not like, but is not that radically different from many non-J RPGs.
