big empty world, janky chocobo controls ( jump over a fence but get stuck on a pebble, or a log) the story would be great if it wasn't for the fact that doing all the side content in the area is twice the amount of time of any significant plot cutscenes/gameplay sections
enemies especially bosses and summons feel twice as tanky and take twice as long to beat than they did in part 1 and also do double damage and as a "feature" added side content so you can unlock nerfs to the challenge/fight of unlocking summons
synergy abilities feel like useless filler content combat overall once again in the subject of unlocking summons feels like a chore rather than optimizing gear it boils down to grinding out materia levels to try again and if you fail well go and do the 1 - 3 side content shrines that unlocks "easier" versions of the fight