>>717778679
It was fine for Squaresoft to experiment with the genre in the 90s (when the average budget for PS1 wasn't too high, so pic related was a norm to them), but by the time they turned into S-E and seventh gen was around the corner it was way too risky to pull off stuff like that (which is why many devs moved onto portables with lower budgets for titles). I mean, SD1 itself started as experimental RPG on handheld console, just with real-time action, and it just so happened to be a success... but maybe turning your fourth mainline title into an expensive experiment in a market full of successful ARPGs (especially when your own company had already found ARPG successor for SD series that is Kingdom Hearts) is a bad idea? Keeping experimental titles like Heroes and Children is fine, but don't turn Dawn into one.
And yeah, the similarities between SD2 and SD3 are easy to notice because both games were made from Maru Island leftovers (or rather whatever was cut from SD2 and didn't make it for Chrono Trigger was used in SD3).
>>717779237
I remember Children being even more tedious and repetitive than SD2 - the potential for something cool was there but the grind and quest system left a sour taste in my mouth. I did hear from lucky people that having a friend to play it together helps a ton, but alas I've also played it solo.