- The Dark Cave quest. Did you binge some David Lynch movies before writing this one? It was disorienting in such a good way. I loved the premise with all the confused, trippy NPCs and the bosses which were tough but never unfair, and the finale feels really unique.
- The non-linear progression in weapons and armors, and the sheer level of customization possible through the combination of materia, equips, and Mr. Smile's stat paths. (Though, I did make some mistakes on a few characters, and ended up with a nearly useless Yuffie and an Aeris that got one-shotted constantly in end game. Cid was MVP with his ultimate weapon for its self-heals.)
- All the little details throughout the game that helped the world feel more alive, like various appearances from party members with (usually) in-character dialogue.
- Cid's sidequest was an absolute laugh riot, while still being in the spirit of the game.
"I used it to augment a giant killer dragon."
"OK." (fight woosh)
- Cait Sith's sidequest was a little brief, but complete gold for similar reasons. That boss is just such a ridiculous idea yet totally perfect. One of the hardest of the bunch too, but in a fun way.
- The many appearances of the XATM scorpion. In particular, the moments where it tries to tail attack with a broken tail, and where it jumps into the dragon fight in the Temple. I was getting absolutely stomped by the dragon until it arrived just in the nick of time which was awesome, plus along with the unique mechanics where I started trying to keep it healed, it was a really fun roller coaster. And finally, the last meeting in Barret's sidequest which was surprising in its own way.
- Yuffie joining early, complete with fun gang battle and no "hand me the players' guide" dialogue prompts. Awesome! And overall, her character somehow became more obnoxious and more enjoyable at the same time, which is a tough rope to walk, so serious props for it.
- Reviving Aeris, while a bit silly in the moment with Cloud freaking out, was a lot of fun. As somebody who tried doing it with cheats back in the day, I know you put a lot of effort into making sure she didn't crash the game in every other story scene - and even the extra dialogue in a lot of them. The scene discussing Holy with Bugenhagen was really nice in particular, because of the way it felt like the story had a ripple effect from her being alive.
- That Sephiroth fight, in your first visit to the North. Perfect example of "I couldn't have possibly imagined this would be here, but the moment is SO much better now that it is."
- The Planet materia! So useful. If anything, Contain was a little underwhelming to get afterwards.
- The diorama is closed.
- Junon Tournament has lots of fun bonus appearances and is fun to play through.
- The final fights with Sephiroth were rough but fair, rather than being complete pushovers like in the original.
- All the little nods to other games, like attacks, enemies, and items being renamed or brought in line with other FF games.
- The rebalanced equivalents to Ruby and Emerald, which still took advantage of their unique features but without the BS moves.
