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.