This sequel to the original does not include the city building aspect of the original but is far more difficult and has much better graphics. Unfortunately it is far more difficult than necessary and still has a very rigid control system.
The spiritual sequel to 7th Saga.
"Mystic Ark, commonly (and improperly) known as "The 7th Saga 2" in some circles, is an RPG by Enix that spans worlds, and embeds a lot of adventure/puzzle elements into the genre."
This challenging game incorporates the ability to choose a class and gender for the lead hero at the beginning of the game. It has brilliant graphics for a SNES game, a good soundtrack, and it has been gracefully hacked/translated into English by disnesquick, Ian Kelly, and of course Ghideon Zhi.
It features a turn-based battle system, similar in style and execution to Final Fantasy Mystic Quest.