It wasn't the norm, though. I first encountered in Luminous Arc and then I somehow avoided it until Awakening. I'm pretty sure GBA era SRPGs were mostly free from it. It'd feel so incredibly out of place in Tactics Ogre, FFT, Onimusha Tactics, etc.
Alma: "Ramza, don't you want somebody to love? Don't you need somebody to love?"
Ovelia: "Delita, I don't understand your viewpoints at all. Please rub the stylus on my forehead."