I've always considered dualcast as the defining feature for rdm because it is a feature that rdm has in all other ff titles. For the 60sec melee you still got to be in melee range, although maybe they just go all the way with 8.0 and make all melees ranged and adjust the animation.
Also a funny thing is if yoshi talks about blm identity, he never mentions anything like timer management. He always just describes blm as destruction incarnate, so basically just a selfish high damage caster using destructive fire spells. I think their idea of identity is just completely different to what we think here.
Btw in jp the rdm changes are mostly welcome as far as i could see. One or two disappointed but understanding comments.