Quote Originally Posted by VeloZer0 View Post
It was part of a general toning down of the game. Not only did they make it simpler, they made it easier. I don't know if it was due to gut-instinct about the American market or actual testing and market research but my gut-instinct tells me it is the former.
Some of the changes in the original American translation appear to have actually in some sense made the game harder;
most notably the removal of several of the characters' attacks.
For example, the removal of Dark Wave means that Cecil cannot conveniently attack all enemies at once, and Rosa also lost her Pray command, which was a nice and simple way to keep the characters' HP up, and Yang lost his Brace and Focus commands, which means that he can no longer protect himself from physical attacks or build up his attack power.
But I guess a better term for these changes is that they "simplified" the game.