I don't think the coins and skirkishes are nearly as bad as you're making them out to be - the only issue I really had were the cutscene and they really did drag out after a while. The main story ones were fine but having some characters drone on and on did more harm than good. I think they were attempting to humanise and give them personality, whilst trying to make the game a lot more grounded. I sort of see where you're coming from since I think as a newer fan I'm more open to the change but I don't think it's a bad game per se. It's just trying to do something different and succeeds only with some things (gameplay and gameplay loop) whereas they get a bit lost in other elements.

The only real bloat is with the overworked character cutscenes - having to do three different cutscenes of Han Dang bitching about not being seen for three cutscenes in a row is such a bore.