To be frank, the original release is a bit of a mess with numerous bugs and glitches to the point of several battle mechanics not working at all (such as critical hits not working despite being present in the code, the evade stat not working, Duran's shields not providing elemental resistance as intended, and more). Despite that, the game still shines through as a classic because of its immersive world, almost infinite customization options, beloved cast, and killer soundtrack.
Speaking of the soundtrack, "Meridian Child" sets the stage perfectly for each of the protagonists setting out on their respective journeys despite incredible odds, not knowing the fate of the world will soon be placed in their hands.
The High-Altitude Battle against Dargraad in both versions of the game as the party has to call Flammie and fight the Benevodon while riding on her back.
Storming Laurant Citadel to liberate it from Nevarl is one from beginning to end courtesy of using Nevarl's own trap against them (with a little help from Domperi and Sylphid), followed by cutting through numerous waves of enemies, followed by two boss fights while "Nuclear Fusion" plays through the whole thing until said boss fights.
Niccolo disabling Belladonna with a Dart and rescuing Jessica. While Hawkeye will do it if he's not in your party, Niccolo gets props for having been incredibly reluctant to fight at the beginning.
One for Eagle in the remake. He managed to smuggle pretty much all of Nevarl's treasure to a secret location and leave a Mimiqueen to guard it right under Belladonna's nose!
The simultaneously awesome, heartwarming, and tearjerking conclusions to each characters' Trial quests, where they (either alone or as a team) overcome their Class 4 counterparts and not just win the battle, but receive additional closure:
By dueling her shadow self solo, Angela overcomes the Trial of Queenship to win the Sage Sphere (a task even her mother Valda couldn't accomplish)—and on her own merit (faerie patronage aside), no less—and has gone from being the only woman in Altena to not know magic to the greatest mage on the entire planet perhaps since the last time the Mana Sword manifested in the world.
Charlotte not only discovers that it was the Hope Sphere that allowed her to come into the world in the first place, but she and her parents get to see one another one last time, with Leron and Shela reassuring Charlotte that they don't regret giving up their own lives to be together.
Duran gets to duel Loki not as the Dark Knight (when they last confronted each other), but as the Golden Knight at the height of his power for the Valor Sphere and acknowledged by both Loki and Richard the Hero King as the world's greatest swordsman.
Technically, the real hero of Hawkeye's story is Eagle (since he was the one who made contingency plans), but as his confidant Hawkeye immediately deduces where Eagle must have hidden Navarl's treasures and leads the party there. Though too late to warn the others that the treasure must be trapped, he still helps them defeat the Mimiqueen left there and doesn't keep any of the treasure for himself except the Loyal Sphere. (Hawkeye's Class 4 quest also answers a question players of the SNES version had—now they know where all that treasure they saw while playing Hawkeye's storyline before Belladonna's takeover went!)
Kevin, meanwhile, challenges his father for the Instinct Sphere, duels him in hand-to-hand combat in full view of the rest of the beast kingdom, and wins despite being a Martial Pacifist, fully cementing himself as rightful heir.
Reisz leads the party in defeating a giant Mook Maker Queeneeb and Joster's ghost leaves her a So Proud of You message through the Kind Sphere.
Watching Kevin land on his feet whenever the team travels by cannon is both funny and awesome. In the original, he'll eventually fall over. In the remake, he stays upright.
The scene where 2/3 of the villains get merced in a giant pile-up at the Mana Sanctuary. One, you've only heard whispers of these villains so far, and you've been conditioned to fear all of them, so watching them get unceremoniously bumped-off is kind of funny. Two potential mini-bosses will deliver a depressed speech about they lost to people they barely even know. Two, it's effective in building the final boss up as a threat. He just wasted two opposing armies without even breaking a sweat. What chance do you have?
When fighting the Final Boss, about halfway through the music suddenly changes from "Sacrifice part two" to "Sacrifice part three" - way more victorious and upbeat sounding. While the Archdemon has a form change to denote this, Dark Lich and Monodoragon don't - meaning by this point? You know you're winning.
It's even more epic in the original version - since you can't see how much health the enemies have. And, against Dark Lich and Monodoragon, the game even pauses. Many emulators thought the game was freezing up for a moment - only for the game to suddenly play much more upbeat and victorious music.
" sets the stage perfectly for each of the protagonists setting out on their respective journeys despite incredible odds, not knowing the fate of the world will soon be placed in their hands.