Eh, the weapons and the chocobo breeding were superfluous to me. The sidequests that actually involved character background were key. Obviously all of Wutai has to be in, but the question for me is whether they do the little stuff like Lucrecia's cave or the whole Zack thing from the mansion (I'm fine if Zack's story is DLC, incidentally - in fact that would be awesome as an expansion).
The thing that made FF7 work so well narratively is that the main story was laid out in disc 1 so that you had to get the central characters' backstories as you chased Sephiroth. First, Corel - we learn about Barrett's history. Then, Cosmo Canyon - learn about Red XIII's history. Then Nibelheim - some Cloud and Tifa intrigue. Then Rocket Town is about Cid. Then you get a whole bunch of Aerith. By the time you get to Bone Village you're pretty well versed in who the characters are. It was a really solid narrative structure that was unique to that game.
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