Dawn of Heroes is more puzzle game than SRPG, but with many deeper choices of each type on the DS, it doesn't stand out.
The good:
* Nice isometric 3d graphics with a fun, squat cartoonish style and plenty of color.
* A little bit of humor and story to tie together each battle, and to set up some unique battle situations.
* The battles are very strategic, which can be both good and bad. Good, in that if you like treating SRPG battles are puzzles, it can be fun to try to work out the intended strategy for each situation.
* Pacing is good without a lot of pointless talky sections, short but decent combat and magic animations, etc.
The not-so-good:
* Shallow RPG elements -- your characters level up linearly and there's no sense of choosing your own allocation of stats or abilities. Equipment acquisition is similarly linear, and you'll get the same basic equipment in the same progression each time you play through the levels.
* Again, combat is more a puzzle to figure out the correct approach than really being "strategic". Many of the levels have one intended approach to success, so you don't get the feeling that there's any freedom or creativity in combat.
* Characters are pretty cheesy, as is the humor. If you're going to do a silly storyline, make it actually funny. Like this review. Yeah. Clever.
Overall, you can choose better SRPGs and better fantasy puzzle games. So until this game is $10, I'd give it a miss.