100 Hour Review:
I have a better appreciation for the game as a whole after getting more time under my belt. Changing my review to a recommend but only after knowing what I know now.

For the record, if you're here to experience the story, just skip the preponderance of side content, you can comfortably get through the story without the power up on normal. The Ubisoft style point to point things fall off toward the end some actual challenging activities start after the Gold Saucer. There's some tough fights that require some thought, the fun card game and Mario Kart Style Chocobo racing.

I found the most entertaining way to tackle the game is to go through the story first and play that in large time chunks, then go back before tackling Hard Mode and take bite sized chunks a few times a week on the side content to get some gear and materia.

I plan to 100% this one and go back for Remake next.

.... I still hate Chadley though he sucks....

First 30 Hour Review:
I can't fully recommend this game compared to the first game....

Rebirth is full of filler content and not in a good way. Want to 100%, hell want to 50% the game? Climb endless towers, perform menial tasks and fetch assignments that add nothing to the narrative but are necessary for character progression and Materia collection. Speaking of the filler facilitator NPC, Chadley...he is literally the worst thing in the game. He was bearable in Remake as a short excuse to get Materia out of Shinra, but giving him a huge presence in this game was a mistake. He's unbearably annoying and I auto skip every time I see his stupid face on the transponder. The game is a slog to get through, Remake had moments of filler but they weren't anything close to this bad. Even the filler content here in Rebirth treats you like an idiot with all the obvious go here markers and endless ability to mulligan. I will be finishing the game and likely torturing myself because I love FF7 but dear lord I hope they don't do this again in Part 3.

The main narrative is fine but WAY smaller compared to the filler portions, unlike remake that had a pretty decent balance between the two, and didn't oversaturate its side-questing.