It's not unreasonable to think of Final Fantasy: Dawn of Souls as a simple cash grab on the part of the newly-reconciled Square-Enix and Nintendo. After all, the games were just released in early 2003 for the Playstation as Final Fantasy Origins. You could be forgiven for passing up what would look like, on the surface, the same game you bought a year and a half ago (or sooner on the used rack). You could also be condemned for passing up what is easily one of the most compelling portable RPGs available now.
Let's get the purists' complaints out of the way, first. Yes, Dawn of Souls has made changes to the play mechanics of both Final Fantasy 1 and 2; and no, the changes are not optional-- they are mandatory. The changes made include a redesigned magic system for 1 to allow it to conform to later entries in the series, automatic re-targeting from defeated foes in 1, a slightly less complex advancement system for 2, and sharply decreased difficulty for both games. These changes are in addition to completely new graphics and sound, based on the Origins port, and new translations for both games. In short, both games have been modified from hardcore gamers' high-water marks into games of suitable difficulty and user-friendliness for players new to the Final Fantasy series.
That said, the games have aged fairly well over time. Final Fantasy's gameplay is timeless and surprisingly deep given its gross simplifications; and Final Fantasy 2's storyline weaves a complex and flowing tale comparable to modern entries in the series. Refreshing the graphics and using the astounding capabilities of the GBA's sound hardware to the fullest has made the games sheer perfection in light of their source and their current iteration.
The game is not content to sit on the laurels of the original games, however-- both titles contain bonus features as well as an interactive and on-line bestiary. Final Fantasy's bonus features consist of four additional challenge dungeons, one available after the defeat of each of the Four Fiends. The dungeons contain high-powered monsters and are randomized, but also are home to exceptionally powerful gear, guarded by the bosses from later Final Fantasy games. For Final Fantasy 2, the bonus feature is the Soul of Rebirth quest, which occurs after the main game is completed and extends the game by about fifteen more hours as you play using guest characters from the main story (to tell more would spoil the main story).
However, for all of the welcome additions and sometimes appreciated changes to the games, Dawn of Souls has done little to alleviate the one major flaw with both titles and the series in general-- the level grind. Like many early-generation RPGs, both titles rely heavily on forcing the player to battle endless monsters to garner experience and gil. The reluctance to part from the paradigm might be simply to say that "that's how it was back then," but in many cases there are better ways to lower the difficulty of a game besides making the player characters advance in power faster. In fact, the plunge in challenge changes each battle from the high-stakes life-or-death conflicts of the original to the "hold A, is it over yet?" monotony of current games in the series. It's safe to say that once you've exhausted the challenges that each title offers, you'll not likely be picking them back up for a while. A lack of multiplayer capabilities also helps to drastically reduce the staying power of the game.
In addition, navigating the worlds that the games have to offer is an often tedious and harrowing experience. The usual "push B Select" map option remains available for players to use while seeking out their next destination, but quite frankly the Game Boy Advance's screen is just too damn small to adequately display a usable map. In the field, the viewable area is also somewhat miniscule compared to what was seen before, meaning that you might spend a good ten minutes trekking around a mountain range only to discover that you cannot get to the next town that way, and must spend time going back. It wouldn't be so bad if the encounter rate was a bit low, but it's not. Thus a wrong turn can be irritating at best and lethal at worst if you find yourself in over your head.
Many players tend to look on a series' founding game with respect and awe. We, as gamers, tend to see certain titles-- like Super Mario Bros., Gradius, and Mega Man-- as being pinnacles of gameplay, hallowed avatars of perfection that subsequent tweakings have not managed to really improve upon. Only once all of those tweakings and improvements are stripped away, and we're left with the thing which we once hailed as divine, do we tend to realize that the good old days weren't always quite as good as we remember.
