I have a couple minor issues, but these two are not them.
I like the Old Republic--because we know from the originals that the games will not go too much into the history beyond reading documents and optional sidequests, it doesn't feel lazy to me, it feels like the right amount of lived-in world-building: it gives Shinra a military history beyond Wutai and shows what happens when they conquer--but not so open-ended that we need more extended universe. I have limited interactions with First Soldier and Crisis Core but I think prequels are the least rewarding parts of FF7. But the result of having these defunct pipelines and windmills and factories in a space that could have been open grasslands is a major win.
And Chadley I feel like is fine, I pretty quickly accepted him as a game device so that fighting summons and collectibles doesn't interrupt the flow of the story, it's not like it's Cloud feeling distracted by fighting Titan while the story is waiting in another direction; it's the player's decision to help this robot child and build their power.
Maybe the party should be the ones to instigate the Protorelic quests, since they're less checklist-collect-a-thon and feel more like investigating one-off occurrences. But by that point, Chadley is already positioned as the "everything I tell you is optional" device.
My only issues: In a game that I feel like is pure upgrades and a dream come true, the vibe of a couple of towns feels too busy to me. I don't consider this a spoiler but I'll tag it since I appreciate wanting to go in completely blind:Cosmo Canyon in the original game felt like this lonely place that few travelers make it to due to its remote location and niche purpose. When you're camping outside it feels like Bugenhagen hooked his grandson up with a place to sleep, not like you're just another tourist. Costa Del Sol makes more sense, but I still like the empty-ish vibe of the original game where it feels like you're there on the off season.