Great writeup, maru.
I can definitely relate vis-à-vis SRPGs. They appeal to me, but in practice, I rarely finish them. The Shining Force and Arc the Lad games are notable exceptions, though. Fire Emblem sees me play a little too obsessively to have finished one. But Heroes is a nice bite-sized, manageable chunk of SRPG play. I'm still surprised it made the transition to the IAP model so well.
Seriously, though, if you want a good SRPG, I recommend Shining Force II in particular. I think the Genesis games are superior to Shining Force III.