I wasn't really thinking about the classic console RPG battle system when I posted that, so in that context you're right. I was thinking more along the lines of an adventure game, like a more interactive Zelda: Link to the Past. Or, to reference a game that has actually used this, a 2d God of War.

If you wanted to use a modified system with a reaction combat element, you could allow button combinations used in battle instead of menu systems. To use an example:

S - Physical Action
A - Last Stance
D - Next Stance

W - Use Spell
Q - Last Spell
E - Next Spell

X - Use Item
Z - Last Item
C - Next Item

Arrow Keys - Movement

From these controls, you can have a system that has dodge and guard actions by having the aforementioned pop up alert the player to move out of the way (Press Left or Right on the Arrow Keys), to counter the player could press the physical action button after dodging (For additional depth, depending on the stance the character is in, a different attack can be issued by the counter).

This would take some additional work over the traditional cRPG battle system, but it would mix it up a little. If I was going to go this far, I'd rule out the cut away battle system and have it a full blown adventure game with some traditional RPG elements thrown in, but that's just more work. That's just my two cents.

One game that pulled off the menu systems well was Chrono Trigger. This was due, in part, to no cut away when you go into a battle, and a range system, where attacks hit in a area, so anyone inside that area was struck. This allowed for strategy inside a cRPG, which is actually pretty rare.

Use an emulator just to play with the combat system (you can only have the emulator on your pc for 24 hours if you don't own the game, so make good use of the time.)