Hm... admittedly, I didn't think they were that young. Though I never looked them up. I just took them at the ages they acted like. Something like 10 years old. Damn JRPGs misrepresenting childhood maturity levels. Though I don't think extra death really detracts from any one character's death. It may be a little redundant, but I still find it more profound. Especially with kids involved, as that is indeed extremely rare (and on that note it doesn't really surprise me that they would all come back at the end considering Nintendo's censorship on touchy subjects at the time)
To me its like if a whole town had to sacrifice to ensure Cecil could succeed. That'd be a terrible and powerful tragedy. Even more so if someone's girlfriend were in that town. The girlfriend dying would have a massive impact. The town dying would have a massive weight. I wouldn't feel that they'd cancel each other out. But maybe I have a darker literary palette