Aside from the first Dragon Force, I've only played the intros/first map or two of those games. As an aside, Sakura Wars 3 on the DC is totally bomb-ass dope from what I played of a random save file I inherited on one of the special VMUs--.BoneSnapDeez wrote:How does it stack up against the Dragon Force, Sakura Wars, and Langrisser games on Saturn?
At any rate, I beat the first Dragon Force earlier in the year, and I would say it and Terra Phantastica are of comparable quality. The story and characters are way better in Terra Phantastica, though. Both games can drag a bit in terms of pacing, also. They're rather different styles of SRPGs, however; So, I don't know that I could really say that one is a better SRPG than the other.
I liked Terra Phantastica more than Shining Force or Shining Force II. I don't know if that's helpful at all. Terra Phantastica is much less by-the-numbers. Each commanding unit can be given a variety of different troops (light infantry, heavy infantry, archers, catapults, sprites, crows, war elephants, unicorn, tomatoes) as well as a piece of equipment from a host of items, which affect the unit's overall stats, above or below his base. Each type of troop has its own strengths and weaknesses, as well as a set of formations, which enhance certain traits, and detract from others while in the campaign maps: Usually there's one that focuses on movement, and the other two give a mix of defense and strength boosts, sometimes at the expense of the other. Actual skirmishes go to a separate screen where units face off for three rounds. There are standard attacks, and some troops give the ability to charge the opponent for much more damage, but it sets the unit's formation into the base movement formation (which considerably decreases attack and defense stats). Certain unit classes have magic as well. Attacking from the side skips the opponent's first round action, and depending on the formation the opponent is in, it will take greater damage. Likewise for attacking from behind, except the opponent only gets one action during the second round. There's an AP system for actions on the map, and every unit has a stamina gauge (called ELAN) which decreases with most actions. Terrain plays a big role in affecting movement, and there are meters in the skirmishes that show each troop's relative altitude. Being on higher ground gives some hidden bonuses, that I couldn't quite figure out, but in general seems to improve attack and defense.
There's a ton of depth to Terra Phantastica's game play, and it's all rather approachable, so in that sense, I would guess that it beats out all those other Saturn strategy games. Again, I would guess the story is a cut above those ones, and the audio is pretty good, as well.
Really frustrating if that is the case since it's not like I've been noodling around the whole way through... just I'm not always the best at choosing the best option if I'm given 50 million different things to do 
