If Enix didn't merge with Square they would be dead after that shitstorm of the Final Fantasy movie.

If Square didn't then get there hands on the DRAGONQUEST series there biggest selling series NOW. They be boned.

Square is boning the Enix side with there bad business decisions. Much like how Sammy pisses away money SEGA earns.

Maybe it's because Square Enix are focusing the majority of their employees on FF13

At least, I hope so.

Although I've never been a JRPG fan, I don't want to see such a great company go down the toilet.

According to Famitsu The Last Remnant kicks ass.

   Balls isn't always a strictly male term.  I mean it in the way say a Stephen Colbert would mean it.  

    For example Celes was pretty damn badass, I would say she had balls in that sense, and was also very much a female.  

   Ogre Battle was Quest and later part of Square (they made FFT), Star Ocean was mediocre though 3 was pretty good (1 alternately was pretty bad), Grandia was mediocre, Act Raiser 1 was cool but 2 was rather crap; the 7th Saga was just OK in most respects though I will give you the Illusion of Gaia as a good example of what Enix could do from time to time (and Valk Profile for that matter).

  Most of the Dragon Warrior games were not that good.  I mean DW 1 as the first real console RPG but once FF came out it was just blown away.  DW 2 and 3 were barely worth remembering; the only one that was any good really pre 8 was DW 4.  Its not a coincidence it was the last one they bothered releasing in NA through the PS2 gen.

   Enix games just never had the pizzaz of Square games nor did they play as well in most cases.  Maybe they're tuned for tastes I do not share, they are pretty grinderific relative to Square games and far less interesting story wise to me.  Seriously though, even with your list I can still think of at least 20 Square games that were better then ANY of those Enix games and even a few like Breath of Fire 2 or Shadow Hearts from other companies like Capcom and Midway that are better.

   I really doubt Sony would have let them die.  Sony already had bought 15% of the company after FF bombed, I bet you anything they would have stepped in to buy a controlling interest if they saw Square go down the tubes.  In my book that would be the best thing that could happen to Square; they wouldn't have Wada ruining things anymore, Sony demands pretty good performance from their first parties as well.  Most of the Sony first parties are putting out seriously great games every year or two with damn good consistency. Square on the other hand is putting out god knows what...DS cash in after DS cash in pretty much.

   I even saw an interview with Wada who talked about how most of what they are going to do is port old games to things like the DS some more.  Friggin great, just what I want, them to STOP making anything worth while and just keep redoing games made before he screwed things up.  I mean those games were great, I loved them when I was 10 playing them on SNES, but I don't want Nostalgia, I want some NEW great games.

What? Original Star Ocean was bad? Now you`re just talking nonsense...

Bah! I think FFTactics is the best game in the genre. I know it's not popular, and I certainly love Fire Emblem, so maybe it's nostalga.

My friend, You're a sad case, if only you knew the games Square used to make.. You wouln't be saying that.

I really liked Final Fantasy XII. The ironic thing is the game is bashed for being different by the same people that say Square Enix is doing too much of the same. I mean make up your minds already.

Final Fantasy XIII, Dragon Quest IX, and Chrono Trigger on the DS are among my most anticipated games. The problem with the first two though is when the hell are they going to come out in the states? These remakes are fine, but we need big time games from the company. I'm not as down on Square Enix as some here are. In the realm of RPGs no one else comes close.