perhaps the drawbacks should be attributed to platform limitations.
no game is, but this was pretty close back in its heyday on the SNES. this remake, while having some much needed improvements, cannot even touch the original in some criteria. however, my point mostly is to assess this game by itself, not compare it to its initial form. sadly, the game does not age well anyway.
the story, in perspective, is fresh. a nutshell doesn't do it justice, but basically you are out to stop a wanton mass-murderer by going back in time and discovering the lost art of magic. luckily there are some unexpected twists here or there. of course, most RPG's stories depend on their characters to make them interesting, but in this one, not so much. the characters, while they do have some personality, are not memorable. the main hero, Cress, is probably the blandest of all, ironically. there are attempts to develop his character, but they are wasted on him without any decent traits to go with him. probably the only interesting characters are Claus, the grumpy, stand-offish senior member, and Arche, the lively comic relief. though they are cliches, they are welcome among all the blandness. first, the superficial garbage. if you played the original, you can tell this remake had a face lift. the backgrounds in battle are bare bones and don't deserve much attention, but most things outside of battle, and the in-battle sprites are acceptable. they now look like deformed chibi characters. these details hardly affect the experience at all anyway, except that the battlefield is not very roomy, since somehow everything is huge.
the battles resemble a fighting game on a 2 dimensional plane. as far as moves, you have a variety of basic attacks, and four special ones. using different techs is about as deep as things get. it's passable, yet lacking. the main reason is that the battles are sluggish beyond belief, and not because they move at a snail's pace (though this is also true, and it wasn't before). the new lack of swiftness isn't as bad as some make it out to be. the battles are simply dragged out by poor ideas. for one, there is the automatic tendecy for a melee character to retreat after attacking from a distance. also, intermediate and advanced spells pause the action. as a result, fighting takes way longer than it should, and most of the time it is mere repetition. the point of an action RPG is the excitement factor, but this is essentially as mundane as a turn-based one. the GBA's limitations are to blame for the some of the sluggishness, i suppose. in retrospect, this should have been ported to a system that could handle it, the only candidate for that being DS. if you haven't been spoiled rotten, though, you should appreciate the simplicity and potential versatility of the side-scrolling battle setup and easy-to-grasp tech system.
not everybody appreciates simplicity to such a degree. i would go so far as to say there is little skill involved, if any. i say that only because little out of the ordinary can be done to effect the outcome of battle. since cress (the only character worth playing as) suffers from serious recoil after attacking and leaves himself open, you often can't avoid getting hit. weaknesses can be easy to exploit, so you'll sometimes pin down a beast with little effort. however, there are a few fatal design flaws that mercilessly screw you over. if you are cornered or stuck between strong foes, you'll take a heavy beating, and good luck getting out alive. there's no simple way to jump, and the only excuse you have to bypass a foe is targeting another one behind them. and too bad you can't change equipment in battle, because if you go into a boss fight with a weapon that has an ineffective elemental attribute, you're just screwed six ways to Sunday. given all this, there's not much hope for you if your under leveled; you're either prepared to win a battle, or you're not. in a roundabout way, the game forces you to power level. finding fights shouldn't be too hard due to EXCESSIVE random encounters with little variety. at times I was almost afraid to move for fear of another battle. there are positives of course. the control scheme is a lot less clunky than on than on the SNES version. they are easy to get the hang of. the frustrating part is getting the machine to keep up with YOU, instead of vice-versa.
there are a good deal of programmed reflexes that i cannot stand. a couple would be the aforementioned tendency to run away after dashing and striking a foe. also, there is adherence to a formation, so your allies may follow you into danger. the best option is to keep them way in the back, which will suffice most of the time (it sure is lonely being the only warrior among a bunch of sissy spellcasters, and the archer isn't exactly a breath of fresh air). these reflexes are helpful sometimes, but you should have the option to turn them off. also they fixed things that once put you at an unfair disadvantage. the action pauses when you choose a target, luckily. if you have the option on that lets you view your foes at the beginning of battle, they won't come rushing at you while you are unprepared. if an ally interrupts the action by casting a spell, it comes to a complete stop before you are abruptly pushed off-screen so you can see the ostentatious effects. plus, the AI's tech usage is a lot less annoying, since they choose from a slightly wider variety. plus, casting time has slowed down so you aren't interrupted by one of your stupid ally's spamming as often (both a good and a bad thing). that isn't to say they aren't still sinfully stupid. quite the contrary. they often use what you don't want them to, hold off on what you want them to use, or just stand there like idiots. good AI is a vital staple in any action RPG, and here it falls flat on it's face. you can turn off usage of certain techs, but the menu is hard on the eyes, since it is difficult to distinguish white text from grey text. it's too bad they fixed as many problems as new ones that came up.
the music and sound is now cheesier, which should not be attributed to the GBA. brilliant composition, but pathetic MIDI's. there's really no excuse for how they massacred the soundtrack. the "voice acting" is very sub-par and id've been fine without it. who needs your party to scream the name of a tech every time they use it? other than that, the scripts are limited in substance.
basically, its not what a remake should be. don't get me wrong, i liked this game, and it had great potential. i actually played this before experiencing the real thing, and it STILL left me with a good impression. on a positive note, you'll get your money's worth in playtime. of course, that's only good if you're having fun.