I like his designs too There are millions of RPGs out there with completely generic anime designs. They don't stick out at all. At the very least, Nomura's designs do not inspire indifference.

I like Nomura better, overall. Nomura tends to go overboard with the abstract, but I think he puts the player through pretty cool "parts". Sakaguchi is always harping on and on about emotional stories, but they turn out too whimsical and plain.

After playing Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey, it is clear Sakaguchi's influence is not a good thing. Lost Odyssey, for instance, had much of the Shadow Hearts team working on it. They made amazing turn-based systems in SH: Covenant and SH: From the New World, but here they were simplified a lot. Read any interviews, and you'll hear him spouting about old-school turn-based still having its place. Turn-based does, but we've moved long past hitting Attack a lot.

I'm just saying he's a man that still thinks devices like a sprint button, formations, and seeing enemies on the field (in BD) is huge innovation. Lost Odyssey is good, don't get me wrong, but it had potential to be awesome and was drowned in things we've seen too many times before.

Neither is bad, though. (>'.')>