I didn't notice a huge drop in difficulty of FFII on the remake. I did notice, however, that dual axes still does an insane amount of damage, and taking more damage during a fight isn't so bad 'cause it means your HP and stamina wind up being a lot higher. Dual axes = cuisinart of death. It's better than barefists according to the stats screen. If you choose "optimum" and there's an axe in your inventory, you'll probably get the axe. If you've got a higher skill with barefist than you'll definitely do less damage if you equip an axe, but axes have the highest attack rating comparitively.