Earlier versions of ATB feel that way, I agree, but I still don't think that makes them turn-based. Regardless, though, this discussion is about the newer versions of ATB found in FF10-2, FF12, and now FF13. In FF10-2, you can not only act at the same time as other characters, it's part of the strategy: interrupting enemy attacks. The same goes for FF13. FF12 lets many actions occur simultaneously, as well.Regulus Tera said:I'm going to say it is all in the speed. There's definitely a feeling of "you go-I go-you go-I go" when playing a game with ATB. Even action games that have cooldown bars and not cooldown animation, you can usually move around and try to evade attacks.
ATB, at least in the way implemented in FFIV-FFIX, is still a representation of the abstract fights first introduced by pen and paper RPG. You are not choosing attacks in real-time, but rather watching how the dice roll in real-time so that then you can choose your attacks.