I understand, Wolf, and the feeling is mutual, just don't accuse me of having an agenda!
Anyway, I don't doubt Sakaguchi's legacy, and I think what he and Tanaka were strong at was they knew how to put a team together to make a video game and make sure they don't veer too far off course during the making of it. Like with FFVII, Sakaguchi wrote the original scenario, but then he went to make sure the FMV's were top notch and laid out the ground rules - like how if the player ever became aware of the load times, he would consider that the team had failed. Stuff like that was important.
I think part of the sink in quality later is that Square naturally promoted guys like Kitase and Nomura to producer positions to let others try a hand at directing and writing. The problem is, Kitase and Nomura were a lot better developers than they are producers. And I'm not sure the current talent pool quite stacks up for them.
I think that's what I really lament about Sakaguchi and now Tanaka's departure. We don't have these true team leaders who can make sure a meaningful piece of work can be made, it's just a mess over there now.
