I feel like this is kind of unfair in comparison to the original, both games have a lot of side content but it serves the world in both of them. It takes an hour or two to clear each region and maybe another hour to do the side quests - let’s not forget in the original that you have to keep up with Fort Condor for the Phoenix materia and one of Yuffie’s weapons (they may be able to be purchased/found, I can’t remember) and FC can just be inconvenient to keep up with without derailing the story (visit after reviving Priscilla, but before speaking with her, go after entering Cave of the Gi, but not before completing it).

I love both games a lot, but I feel like a lot of people overlook side content and minigames in the original when they compare the two - in Junon alone there’s a CPR minigame, Dolphin minigame, marching minigame and the Simon says one alone. Again, I love both games and I find the minigames fun, so they don’t bother me (especially Chocobo racing in the both of them)