"No plans" for new Saga or Mana games

[Aeolus]

And then in Dawn of Mana everything was just shit.

Heroes of Mana, being Japan's first RTS, was also shit. Squeenix, of course, went and reused it's same 'Don't cross the streams pathfinding' engine for both Reverent Wings and Blue Dragon +, resulting in of course, more shit.

Seriously, that whole World of Mana compilation was full of uninspired or gimmicky bullshit.

Also, Sword of Mana went and remade FFA into a bloated, shitty, grindfest that went against the very nature of it's own platform (a handheld RPG without even a quicksave feature) all while watering down FFA's plot into 'Power of Friendship' anime bullshit.

[DPB]

I wish other games would incorporate Saga's method of earning abilities. I can't say I think much of the series otherwise, but for some reason I find it really satisfying when that lighbulb pops up in the middle of a battle and you learn a new technique.

[Giga_Force]

I never played Heroes or Dawn of Mana but the soundtrack for Heroes was amazing since Shimomura returned.  Not as epic as the Legend of Mana but it was still very good.  The only Mana games I own are: Secret of Mana, Legend of Mana, Sword of Mana and Children of Mana.  Secret is my favorite of the bunch I own but something about Legend just makes me happy.  I always have to play it during the Summer.  The mixture of the music, graphics, characters, environment.  The story was all over the place I guess since it was basically a mission based game but granted the game is just beautiful to look at and still is.  One of the best looking PS1 games, up there with Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy Tactics.

[Aeolus]

I never played Heroes or Dawn of Mana but the soundtrack for Heroes was amazing since Shimomura returned.  Not as epic as the Legend of Mana but it was still very good.  The only Mana games I own are: Secret of Mana, Legend of Mana, Sword of Mana and Children of Mana.  Secret is my favorite of the bunch I own but something about Legend just makes me happy.  I always have to play it during the Summer.  The mixture of the music, graphics, characters, environment.  The story was all over the place I guess since it was basically a mission based game but granted the game is just beautiful to look at and still is.  One of the best looking PS1 games, up there with Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy Tactics.

That's the thing about the Mana series. More often than not, it has very beautiful art and music. Games like Legend and hell even Dawn still look good even today, but when you strip all that away you're left with a very mediocre side scrolling brawler and an awful juggling grindfest respectfully. Children so far has been the one big outlier as it's artwork is fully concentrated on the title screen, the one screen large designated 'town', and the characters. Everything else is your typical, by the numbers, dungeon crawler, down to the boring reused title sets.

Heroes, as you said, had great music and good art for an RTS. But there's the rub, an RTS. An RTS from Japan. In the nearly three decades that they've been making video games, Japan has only developed 3 RTSes during this entire time. And they're ALL based off of Heroes of Mana's shitty engine. (Of course, I'm not counting the RTSes produced under Squeenix since as they're all developed from western companies that they've absorbed in a vain effort to appeal to western gaming audiences without actually having to do the work themselves.)

[Giga_Force]

I was almost tempted to pick up Dawn and Heroes just to have them in my Mana collection but i'm I glad I opted out of that decision.  I remember when I first played Musashi: Samurai Legend, I was slightly disappointed because of how different it was versus Brave Fencer Musashi.  I do own and love the soundtrack.  Hamauzu and Nakano need to work together again in games more often.

[Mym]

In the nearly three decades that they've been making video games, Japan has only developed 3 RTSes during this entire time. And they're ALL based off of Heroes of Mana's shitty engine.

Agreed on the shockingly low quality of HoM and its kin, but this isn't entirely true. In fact, you could argue that Japan actually invented the genre: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herzog_Zwei

[Agent D.]

All I have to say regarding this topic is Dawn of Mana was probably the worst thing Square in all of it's many names (squaresoft, square enix, square alone, any others that were less noteable) ever released. I don't know what the hell they were thinking allowing that to reach store shelves.

I will point out also that the Saga series of games were very hit or miss. I was a fan of most of them, but some people truly found it detestable. I'd recommend trying out Saga Frontier 2, as its story was pretty good, though the randomly ridiculous difficulty could make it a harsh experience. The story was pretty awesome though, and Gustave was an impressive character.

[Giga_Force]

All I have to say regarding this topic is Dawn of Mana was probably the worst thing Square in all of it's many names (squaresoft, square enix, square alone, any others that were less noteable) ever released. I don't know what the hell they were thinking allowing that to reach store shelves.

I will point out also that the Saga series of games were very hit or miss. I was a fan of most of them, but some people truly found it detestable. I'd recommend trying out Saga Frontier 2, as its story was pretty good, though the randomly ridiculous difficulty could make it a harsh experience. The story was pretty awesome though, and Gustave was an impressive character.

I absolutely LOVE SaGa Frontier 2.  I haven't beaten the original SaGa Frontier which makes me sad because I've really enjoyed what i've played.  Yes, the story in SF II is really good, quite amazing actually.  Gustave is an amazing character and just about everyone else is.  There needs to be a SaGa Frontier III but more than likely, it would suck if it were made.  Hell, I bet a new Chrono game would suck unless the Dream Team reunites but that is probably never going to happen.

[insertnamehere]

All I have to say regarding this topic is Dawn of Mana was probably the worst thing Square in all of it's many names (squaresoft, square enix, square alone, any others that were less noteable) ever released. I don't know what the hell they were thinking allowing that to reach store shelves.

I'm thinking this game may be it.

[Eusis]

... God dammit, they just had to put a rom on that page. I know no one at SE's likely to care anymore, but nevertheless I had to replace it with a Wikipedia link.

[Giga_Force]

I couldn't really get into the Square's Tom Sawyer game but that was years ago.  Maybe I should give it another......no.

[Aeolus]

On the other hand....

Goddammit Squeenix.

[Giga_Force]

I heard about this being released for sometime now.  It looks like (The packaging) but I already own the soundtracks for Secret, Seiken Densetsu 3, Legend and Heroes.  I would love to get a copy of it just to have Children and Sword.

[beach1]

I love the SaGa series, even though I can see why some wouldn't and Unlimited SaGa is an awful game, so this is very disappointing news for me. The remake of Romancing SaGa for the PS2 was really great.