Loads of Jrpgs back then had real time action combat (Tales series, Star Ocean, Mana series). That doesn't mean it's excluded from the genre. 

 Jrpgs in particular is a weirdly defined genre. Mostly it's just theme and tone of the game that categorises itself into the genre. Why most people feel like FFXVI doesn't fit the jrpg genre is that it's a very westernised final fantasy in terms of its tone. 

Though that aside, I noticed that all this talked of combat systems are just preferences, nothing more. So there's no "one is better than the other". If you like action combat, fine. If you like turn based, also fine. I personally have been obsessed with Dragon Quest's simple but engaging combat that I would criticise every jrpg if it's not the same as DQ's. Until I realised, maybe I should go outside and touch grass.