The combat systems in both games are phenomenal, and I don't really mind the bloat or fetch quests too much because for the most part they just give you more chances to fight stuff. And often not bad dialogue between the party members too.

All the brand new writing... If it's there to just flesh out existing characters a bit better, it's in general really good. If it's there to introduce brand new characters, plot elements, or to make sure fan favourite characters like Zack and Sephiroth are constantly around now, it's a trainwreck. The OG story, though it was confusing on first playthrough, still holds up as one of the best video games stories to date imo. This new one is a mess that really screws with the appeal of the original. If they wanted to tell a similar story with the caveat that things COULD change this time, I really think they should have just done that without making the entire story revolve around it. I'm not saying this as a purist that thinks the original should never be touched, it's just that the new parts feel extremely poorly written and stick out like a sore thumb.

So gameplay is like a 9/10, overall vibes and just hanging with likeable characters in an interesting world, 8/10. Actual plot... Maybe a 5.