About to begin Operation Rescue Tifa from Corneo... more first impressions as I go deep the FFVIIR hole.

I am 13 hours into FFVII Remake and my enjoyment is still rather high. I've done LOTS AND LOTS OF FILLER... There has been some good filler, some bad filler, and some ugly filler.

Good filler:
A story explanation, why Johnny leaving was such a big deal. In the original game, Johnny leaving his home in Sector 7 is supposed to be a big deal, but there was no real explanation. Now Johnny gets some back story.

Character development for Jessie. Oh my JENOVA, Jessie gets a nice chunk of character development AND is a super enjoyable character to have around. Poor girl is Thirsty as hell.

SOME Side quests actually give some insight into the world and its lore. The quests themselves may suck (ie locate 5 kids with toy Buster swords on their backs), but you get little nuggets of info about the world and certain characters.

Additional Boss Fights, like Reno at the Church. It's alwaya nice to have some additional boss battles, even if they are with Just Cloud. Or the Chadley VR summon boss battles,  whwre you earn a summon by beating it in battle... a sort of throwback to Earlier Final Fantasy games.

Hinting that Barret's AVALANCHE is not associated to the real AVALANCHE.

Bad Filler:

Wedge being reduced to a series of fat tropes.

The dementors. The more they appear the more my urge to kick Nomura on the dick intensifies.

Side quests that give no insight to the world and are tedious.

The linearity of the game. I've missed items because that game gives me a very small window to get then. Like a Materia in the Church.

Visions from events that happened in the original teased in the remake. It's OK getting flashbacks of Nibelheim 5 years ago... but how in blue blazes do I get Flashbacks to Aeris' death!? That hasn't even happened yet.

Areas being bigger for padding sake. What was a "single screen" on the original game now is a tedious half hour trek that involves narrow passages,  ladders, and other excuses to slow down your movement to molasses speed.

Ugly filler:
Roche. He appears out of nowhere has an annoying boss battle set with benches things with a specific theme and vanishes .just as he appeared. He needed only a black cloak and he could have been a perfect Organization XIII member.

Any appearance of Sephiroth.


Now I'm off to Wall Market.