Yeah Jeanne d'arc is definately more like FFT than a tales game..
as for the jump ability:
nope you are essentially temporarily off the screen so you get missed unless they have drastically changed it since the ps1 version. It works really well in boss battles where they summon really bad crap to attack you :) I remember maxing out a few of them in jumping height and length and equipping really strong lances, you could dominate anything from like 12 squares away without a scratch, or immediately jump to the top of mountains and hide etc....
I would definitely say that you should at least rent Jeanne D'arc and disgaea and see if you like them, if so almost all the games by nippon ichi are similar (phantom brave, soul nomad, makai kingdom, la pucelle etc...)
one of the best ones ever is Tactics Ogre for ps1, but good luck finding that for under 100 bucks, its from the same guys that made FFT. they also have one for the GBA. I also really like the growlanser sereis (especially 2) because some of the battles are full of strategy rather than just attack until everything dies.
you might also check this out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tactical_role-playing_game
the chronology list is useful
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronology_of_tactical_role-playing_video_games
