alt Hacker NewsFunny, I very much prefer Legend of Mana and SaGa Frontier (specially the first, has more robots).
The atmosphere in Cross is really good yeah, but the plot and gameplay issues really hold it back. I can forgive it being a bad sequel (mean-spirited towards Trigger at times for some odd reason) or having a silly plot, but I can't forgive the wasted potential. Feels like the director lost interest once the Radical Dreamers portion was remade.
Have you tried SaGa: Emerald Beyond? The SaGa series is by far my favorite jrpg series, and I feel like they just keep getting better. Scarlet Grace and Emerald Beyond had low production values but they are some of the most fun I've had with videogames ever.