Leroux: Oh yeah, that too. The traditional combat system in many of them just bores me and it doesn't help that combat is frequent and often with minor enemies (auto win). Of course, WRPGs have easy and repetitive combat encounters, too, but at least the context (e.g. terrain, positioning etc.) is a little bit different every time, which helps to make them more memorable. I don't like the style of JRPG where "tactics" just means going through menus, selecting the same options over and over again, while looking at a very static battle scene outside of the game world. No flanking enemies, no shooting from higher positions, no taking cover, no luring opponents into traps etc., just the same slow Attack/Heal/Special Attack or Magic routine every round. And yes, I'm prejudiced, but so far most JRPGs I've tried confirmed the prejudices. I'd like to see JRPGs that differ fromt he formula, but would they still be JRPGs then? I had fun with Fortune Summoners, for example, but I guess it's more of a platformer with JRPG elements.
Honestly, I find that those extra options slow down the game.
I've been playing through Pathfinder: Kingmaker's random dungeon DLC, and what I've noticed is that the battle system tends to force characters to engage with a single foe and not move around, eliminating the strategy of who to attack. If you move, you get exposed to an attack of opportunity and you lose your full attack.
Also, JRPGs can have a lot of strategy, particularly when the game is difficult enough for it to matter. The defend command is surprisingly useful, particularly since it usually works from the beginning of the round (ignoring initiative). Status ailments, when they work (or at least have a decent chance of working), can be interesting, and there's the strategy of when to heal and when to go all out on offense. Then some games have strategically interesting abilities, like Dragon Quest 6 having an ability that's basically a reverse defend (do more damage, but also take more damage), or the ability to store power to do more damage (useful against enemies that heal or that do nasty things when at low HP).
Interestingly, I found that Dragon Quest 2 has some of the most engaging combat of any JRPG, mainly because random battles can be difficult, and status ailments work reasonably often. Sometimes, you need to assess the situation, decide if it's worth spending MP on that status ailment spell, whether it's worth spending a turn to heal (especially since there's an item that restores HP to the user for free, but can only be used during battle), or if it's best to attack and hope for the best, or if you should just run away (and risk failing to run). I really do enjoy watching the later half of Dragon Quest 2 speedruns. Sure, the player needs to gain a lot of enemies to beat the game, but you can't just do the same thing in every single battle, or else you're going to have characters dying (though that could easily happen anyway). (Also, unless you're playing the original Japanese version, death in the final stages of the game isn't too punishing, as you can revive your entire party at the last save point for free.)
Leroux: EDIT: Fell Seal perhaps? Does that qualify as a more modern tactics JRPG? Or is it more of a WRPG with anime look?
It's in the same genre as Final Fantasy Tactics, and in fact is quite similar.